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ITB4LIAI HAID-BOOK, 


El GEES 




GEOGRAPPftc^t’ c^TOPOGRAPPIICAL, 

f ' 







i '....- 

. //’ ’ 



AND A CONCISE HISTORY OF 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 


TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

AN APPENDIX, 

OONTAININO ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS, THE AUSTRALIAN TARIFF, THE 

GOLD REGULATIONS, &c. 

COMPILED 

BY THOMAS BATC ' 



2.0- 

EOME, N. T. : 


'••’A ■' 


PRINTED BY A. SANDFORD AND CO., CITIZEN OFFICE, 

r . , 

FOR T. BATdni’Lit, MADISON STREET. 


1853. 















A 





i 




ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OE CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1853, BY 
THOMAS BATCHELAR, 

IN THE CLERK^S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE 
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK. 


P, 

U.S, Patent Off® 










CONTENTS. 


CURSORY VIEW OF AUSTRALIA. 

Discovery. Penal Settlement founded. Pas.sage of the Blue Moun¬ 
tains. Convict Transportation ceases. Mrs. Caroline Chisholm. 
The Gold'Discovery. 3 

^ GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AUSTRALIA. 

j£\tent. Physical Features. Rivers, Geology. Mineralogy. The 
Seasons. Climate. Animals, &c. The Aborigines. Trees. Farms 
and Farmers. The.Squatter. The Shepherd or Herdsman. Sport¬ 
ing. Agriculture. Table of Area, Population, Stock, &c. 10 

PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 

Extent. Physical Aspect. The Gold Region. Cities and principal 
Settlements—Sydney, &c. Religion, Education, &c. Convicts. 
Population. Trade, Revenue, &c. Society. Government, His¬ 
tory, &c. 27 

PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 

Extent. Physical Aspect. The Gold Region. Cities and principal 
Settlements—Melbourne, Geelong, &e. Rides to Mount Alexan¬ 
der. The City of Gold and Canvass. Religion, Eduoation, &e. 
Population. Trade, Revenue, &c. Society. Government, His¬ 
tory, &c. 43 

PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 

Extent. Physical Aspect. The Copper and Gold Regions. Princi- 

“pal City and Settlements. Religion and Education. Population. ”” 
Trade, Revenue, &c. Society. Government, History, &c. 63 

THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 

Sir R. Murchison. Smith’s application. Hargraves discovers Gold. 
Ophir. The Turori. Hundred weight of Gold. The Panic in 
Victoria. Gold found at Balarat and Mount Alexander. Governor 
Latrobe. Panic in South Australia. Gold discovered at Echunga. 
Gold Produce. Largest Nuggets found. 72 

PROVINCE OF WEST AUSTRALIA. 

Extent. Physical Aspect. Principal Settlements. Population, Stock, 
Trade, &e. History, &c. 83 

ISLAND OF VAN DIEMEn’s LAND OR TASMANIA. 

Extent. Physical Features., Principal Cities and Settlements. Nat¬ 
ural History, &c. Religion, Education, Population, Society. 
Convicts. Government, History, &c. 87 

ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND OR MAORIA. 

Extent. Physical Aspect. Islands, Provinces, Settlements. Natural 
History. Religion. Trade, Revenue, Population. Aborigines, 


Missionaries. Government, History, &c. 93 

Appendix. 99 












PREFACE. 


A mighty commonwealth is fast rising on the shores of the 
Southern Pacific : a collateral branch of the same h'lman fam- ^ 
ily with ourselves: one, by blood, by language, and bureUgioJ. 
Yes! a younger brother is fast approaching manhood ! Tt't?S^ 
hoves us, therefore, at least, to extend to him a brother’s solic¬ 
itude and a brother’s love 1 Let us not point the finger of 
scorn, with pharasaical contumely, to the origin of his biyth! 
sufficient be it for us to know, that he possesses the stalwart 
energy and virtues of his race in his advancing years. Then 
let us assist to guide him on his way. There must be no nar¬ 
row-mindedness—no churlishness ! Give a generous sympathy 
and a generous aid. Let us “ be a lamp unto his feet and a 
guide unto his path ”—“ a city set on a hill that cannot be hid ” 
—that when he does attain his majority we may truly and joy¬ 
fully hail him into the family of nations, and fully realize 
“ How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to¬ 
gether in unity.” 

It was with feelings akin to these, and a desire to direct the 
attention of our citizens to the vast resources and capabilities 
of a countiy destined to be “ the third great empire of the world, 
having for its basis the social, political, industrial and religious 
principles of the Anglo-Saxon mind,” and whose history had 
been to us, till recently, as it were almost a sealed book, that the 
compilation of this little work was undertaken; and not with 
any view to excite the cupidity of the reader, by pointing out 
only to that golden lottery, the immense mineral wealth of 
Australia. Already a great trade has sprung up between the 
two countries, which must continue steadily and largely to in¬ 
crease, and cargoes of American bread stuffs, ’provisions, man¬ 
ufactures and miscellanies have found a ready sale and realized 
handsome profits. 

A knowledge of Australia is, therefore, indispensably neces¬ 
sary : and the compiler, with this view, has carefully drawn 
from original communications, assisted by the works of colonial 
writers, Ac., this series of articles on the geography, topography, 
resources, Ac., of that immense country, which he hopes will 
prove useful as well as instructive to his fellow citizens and the 
community at large. 


T. B. 



AUSTRALIAN SKETCHES. 




CURSORY VIEW OF AUSTRALIA. 

DISCOVERY. 

Australia was discovered as early as the year 1606 by the 
Dutch, and the north-west, west and southern coasts were ex¬ 
plored by them, and the name of Neio Holland was given by 
them to the country ; it was visited by an English exploring 
expedition, under Captain Dampier, in 1668-9; but the general 
sterility of her coasts, and her miserable aboriginal inhabitants— 
ranking among the lowest in the scale of humanity—presented 
but little to tempt the cupidity of European powers to form 
settlements on her shores. 

In lYVO, the great circumnavigator Cook surveyed the eastern 
and north-eastern shores, which he called New South Wales^ 
from their resemblance to the coast of South Wales, in Britain. 

PENAL SETTLEMENT FOUNDED. 

In 1788, the British government, upon the recommendation 
of Captain Cook, founded a penal settlement, on the eastern 
coast, at Port Jackson, on the spot where now stands the large 
and flourishing city of Sydney, the metropolis of Australia. 

The French revolution and the wars arising out of it (whicii 
took place immediately after the first settlement), completely 
absorbed the public mind of Europe, and the consequence was 
that the British were left in undisturbed possession of the coun- ' 
try; though the French at the time of the British settling, had 
'a notion of locating on that part of the country, now forming 
the province of Victoria, the most valuable portion of the con¬ 
tinent of Australia, and for that purpose sent out an exploring 


4 


CURSORY VIEW. 


expedition under the command of the unfortunate and lamented 
Le Perouse. 

From these causes, Australia has escaped those calamities 
which afflicted the early settlers of this country. Her settlers 
have had no warlike native tribes nor hostile European powers 
to contend against. The blood of her citizens has never irri¬ 
gated her soil—her wives have never been made widows and her 
children orphans—neither have her cities and towns been 
sacked—her homesteads laid waste—her altars desecrated—bv 
internal wars. No minister of Christ ( 5 '. priest of Baal) has, as 
yet, consecrated her banners, and thus given his sanctimonious 
countenance to that damning scourge of humanity—that ste¬ 
reotyped lie to Christianity—“ all-glorious war!” She has be¬ 
gun in peace, and may she continue in peace till the end of time ; 
and thus prove in this, as in most other things, that she is “ a 
land of contraries !” 

From he origin of the settlement ot Australia, she has been 
looked upon by the civilized portion of the world, as a great 
moral pesthouse—the receptacle for the offscouring of British 
vice and pollution. True, for a quarter of a century she con, 
tinned to be a penal colony, cramped up wdthin a narrow strip 
of land between the Blue Mountains and the South Pacific 
Ocean, and few, but those who “ left their country for their 
country’s good,” ventured to settle on her shores. 

TASSAGE OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. 

In 1813, Mr. W. C. Wentworth and a few other enterprising 
settlei’s, found a passage across that hitherto impassable barrier - 
the Blue Mountains, and drew back the veil which had so lonu 
hid from civilized man the vast and fertile regions of the in¬ 
terior. This discovery induced some officers of the British army 
stationed in the colony and a few free settlers to turn their atten¬ 
tion to sheep farming and the raising of cattle. 

From that time, the pastoral, agricultural and horticultural 
resources of the country began to develop themselves and a con¬ 
tinuous stream of free immigrants poured into the colony. New 


CURSORY VIEW. 


5 


discoveries were made and settlements spread rapidly. The 
valetudinarian officers of the British army—the civilians and 
merchants of Bengal, Madras and Bombay—enervated by the 
sickly climate of Eastern India—hastened to resuscitate and re¬ 
vivify their worn-out frames in the mild and invigorating air of - 
Australia.' Flocks of sheep and herds of horned cattle multi¬ 
plied without number, and wool and tallow became the staple 
commodities of the country, and the demand for agricultural 
laborers and shepherds was incessant and increasing. 

CONVICT TRANSPORTATION CEASES. 

With the increase of free settlers, convict transportation to 
continental Australia—restricted in 1836 —finally ceased in 
1840 ; and was thereafter confined to the island of Yan Die¬ 
men’s Land and Norfolk Island, a small but beautiful island 
in the Pacific Ocean, about 1200 miles east of Sydney. 

The newly-settled provinces of West and South Australia 
and Victoria, and the islands of New Zealand, were never penal 
colonies ; and it may be presumed that there are at this time 
(1853) no transported convicts from Britain within the province 
of New South Wales, except some who may have escaped from 
Van Diemen’s Land. 

In 1842, the province of New South AVales underwent a 
state of transition, and a colony of free men, with elective muni¬ 
cipal and legislative institutions, took the place of convict felonry 
and the old system of nomination by the colonial office in 
Downing Street. 

Pending the discussion of the bill granting municipal cor¬ 
porations to the cities and counties, a general convention of 
delegates of mechanics and laborers was holden at Sydney, to 
consider the subject of the fi-anchise as proposed by the bill. A 
deputation of three (one of whom, an intimate friend of the 
writer of this sketch, then a journeymen printer in Sydney, now 
the proprietor and printer of the Maitland Mercury^ at Mait¬ 
land, N. S. W.,) was appointed to wait upon Sir George Gipps, 
the governor-general, to urge upon him the necessity of a low 


6 


CtJKSORt VIEW. 


rate of qualification. The question was discussed between them'^ 
and the governor, notwithstanding his British predilections 
against “ mob government,” acquiesced with the members of the 
deputation, and impressed their views on the Legislative Coun¬ 
cil, and, in consequence, the platform as laid down by the 
working men at Sydney became the basis of the elective franchise 
in the provinces of New South Wales and Victoria. 

MRS. CAROLINE CHISHOLM. 

About this time arrived in the colony, Mrs, Caroline Chisholm, 
a woman of high moral character, sound judgment, and strong 
and determined mind—one destined to be, in the hands of the 
Almighty, the humble instrument in the great work of Aus¬ 
tralian regeneration. Her husband, a captain in the Anglo-In¬ 
dian army, was led in pursuit of health to Sydney ; and an in¬ 
cident in the life ol an “ unprotected female,” (See Memoirs of 
Mr$. Chisholm^') ere long opened Mrs. Chisholm’s eyes to the 
state of colonial society and to the condition of the poor immi¬ 
grants, especially the females. It was computed at the time 
that Mrs. C. commenced her labors in Sydney, there were in that 
city six hundred females wandering about unprovided for ! This 
evil and the mismanagement it revealed she determined to rem- 
edy. She proposed a “ Female Emigrants’ Home,” or rather 
she established it, and struggled with it unaided, and under the 
most desponding circumstances. The clergy doubted, the press 
hesitated, and the governor (Sir George Gipps) regarded her as 
a lady laboring under amiable delusions.” But she persevered, 
overcame all obstacles, and won universal respect. The work 
she so earnestly coveted, she got all to do. It devolved upon 
her, to “well govern, well feed, and well place,” thousands of 
immigrants. She became matrimonial agent for the whole 
colony. She undertook journeys of hundreds of miles into the 
interior, with the families under her charge. And such was 
the hospitality every where shown to her, that her personal ex¬ 
penses, during seven years’ service in this kind of work, amounted 
to only nine dollars. Since her return to England she has de- 


CURSORY VIEW. 


r 


voted herself to the promotion of family colonization in a manner 
which has commanded the confidence of all parties, while it has 
developed her extraordinary faculties for organization and govern¬ 
ment. A truly queenly woman, and by divine right too ! By 
late accounts from England, we find she is about to sail from 
Southampton to the country of her adoption, in charge of nine 
hundred young orphan women, in anew ship, called after hereelf, 
the “ Caroline Chisholm.” 

Douglas Jerrold, writing of this vessel, says,—“In a vessel for 
emigration the presence of Caroline Chisholm is a guarantee for 
order, safety and morality. With a courage more than masculine— 
with a devotion surpassing that of woman—this lady has worked 
out a noble thought and put into practice a just and generous 
system. If ever human creature deserved honors, pensions, 
statues, from a grateful people—she deserves them. She has 
not merely stimulated emigration—taught the poor to look 
without fear on a voyage to the land of gold—but she has 
helped to take the power of oppression, chicanery and deception 
out of wicked hands, and to render the transfer of families to 
the ends of the earth, easy, safe and comfortable. In one w ord,' 
she has made emigration moral.” 

THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 

A few years and another phase has arrived. A beacon light 
has shone in the wilderness, and thrown its golden rays over 
the fertile fields and valleys of Australia. What could not be 
done by writers and speakers, or by grants of the provincial 
legislatures, to induce a large amount of emigration, has been 
done by the vision of a gold mine ! 

We will not discuss what might have been the condition 
of these colonies had gold been discovered some twenty-five 
years ago, when they were one vast prison-house, and three- 
fourths of the people were felons or emancipists. Wisely has 
it been ordained by an over-ruling Providence that these prov¬ 
inces should have become possessed of a population containing 
an average amount of order and virtue, and that schools, col- 


8 


CURSORY VIEW. 


leges and cliurclics should have taken the places of police sta 
tions, barracks and jails, before the earth disclosed its riches. 

Gold ! almighty gold ! where is the man who will not take 
a voyage to the an‘li])odes to become possessed of thee ? Be¬ 
hold ! the country which was the other day a by-word and a 
reproach is now become the desired of all nations, and thousands 
upon thousands are rushing to her shores ! There is wealth 
in the wilderness.' Cn]Rdity has felt the mighty stimulus, 
shoulders the pick, and is off for the diggings. A better spirit 
than this is also awakened by the movement. New light 
breaks in on the public mind. The gold nugget is not fit for 
eating nor the molten ore for drink. The diggings are begin¬ 
ning to render their best service by drawing attention to the 
prospects of prosperity which the resources of the country 
opens for intelligent industry. While the sordid speculator 
hopes to pick up a rich lump of gold, with which to return, 
the real emigrant goes to live a new life in a new country. 
He has left behind him the conventionalisms and remnants of 
feudalism of the old world, and learns the lessons of self-depen¬ 
dence and self-support. It is not ignorant pauperism that is 
now mainly on the move. Men of industrial habits, of acute 
observation, of independent thought are marching in the van, 
and with these hosts of earnest, teachable, aspiring youths, 
ready to take the impress of a new region, and adapt them¬ 
selves to the new, but wholesome, modes of realizing the means 
and enjoyments of existence which it requires. These are the 
founders of the republics of futurity. 

It is refreshing amid this golden excitement to find that some 
of the Australian colonists have remained sufficiently cool to 
argue calmly the relative advantages of a country of gold or 
no gold. This calmness is prevalent to a considerable extent 
among the better class of settlers in the province of South Aus¬ 
tralia. They have a good word for the moderate fruits of ordi¬ 
nary industry. They can turn cheerfully from gold in nuggets 
to gold in wheat sheaves. And truly this picture has two sides, 


CURSORY VIEW., 


0 


which the intending emigTant would do well to ponder. Let 
him well consider a remark of a writer in the British Quarterly 
Review —“ that the acquiring the means of enjo3-ment without 
vigorous exertion seems contrar}' to the economical laws of' the 
universe.” Indeed, judging from the nations of antiquity, and 
from the nations at present in existence—the United States, 
Britain, Holland, &c.—we shall find that it is not gold that 
makes nations wealthy—but it is labor—persevering labor— 
whether in the field, the factory or the counting room ; and, 
further, let him bear in mind, that it is an educated, intel¬ 
lectual and moral people that can alone form and sustain a 
self governing state. 

Oh ! that the multitudes who are wending their way to the 
shores of Australia would awaken from their dream of “gold, 
gold, nothing but gold,” and turn their attention to the bound¬ 
less capabilities of the land of their adoption : to the soil that 
will yield them “ thirty, sixty and a hundred fold ;” to the flocks 
and herds whose increase has been, and will yet be, almost 
incalculable; to the trade which the wool and the various 
agricultural i^roduce will ere long open up to them: to all 
those rich and varied resources of a land, which, in the em¬ 
phatic language of scripture, has been truly described as “ a 
land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees, and pome¬ 
granates ; a land of oil olive and honey; a land where thou 
shalt eat bread without scarceness. Thou shalt not lack any 
thing in it.” 




10 


GEN-tUAL DESCKIl’HON. 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AUSTRALIA. 


EXTENT. 

This immense island, or more properly continent, lies be¬ 
tween the parallels of 10 deg. 45 min. and 38 deg. 45 min. S., 
and the meridians of 112 deg. 20 min. and 153 deg. 30 min. 
FI. of Greenwich. It is separated on the north from the islands 
of New Guinea and the Moluccas by Torres Straits, and from 
Timor and other islands in the Eastern Archipelago by the 
Arafura Sea; on the south from Van Diemen’s Land by Bass’ 
Straits. Its eastern and southern shores are laved by the 
Pacific: its western and north-w’estern by the Indian Ocean. 
Its extreme breadth, from the northern point of Cape York to 
the southern point of Wilson’s Promontory, is 1960 miles, and 
its extreme length, from Lennox Head on the east to Port Grey 
on the west coast, is 2400 miles. The coast lino is marked by 
deep gulfs, fine bays and capacious harbors, and is computed to 
exceed 8000 miles. The territorial area is estimated at three 
millions of square miles. It is at present divided into the fol¬ 
lowing provinces: New South Wales, on the east and north¬ 
east; Victoria, on the south-east; South Australia, on the 
south; and West Australia, on the north-west, west and south¬ 
west. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. ' 

The appearance of the country seems to indicate that it is of 
diluvian rather than of volcanic origin, but diflferent causes may 
have operated conjointly in its formation; after having been left 
partially dry by the receding of the sea from the north to the 
south pole, some powerful submarine action (as in the case of 
Chili) may have raised the crust of our globe in this spot, 
above the ocean level, cither at one shock or by a series of suc¬ 
cessive shocks. 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION.- 


11 


diversity of surface and aspect produce in Australia diversity 
of appearance. Forest timber, brushwood and grasses are not 
divided into zones, as in other countries, according to their ele¬ 
vation ; the nature of the soil and the proximity of water seem 
to determine the class of productions irrespective of latitude or 
altitude* In many places the whole face of the country has 
the appearance of a lardscape garden—a grove here, a lawn 
there—beyond a shrubbery, or clump of trees, and frequently a 
natural wall of light colored stone, scarcely to be detected from 
good masonry,^and appearing through the foliage like the en¬ 
closure of a parterre. The various explorers of the interior 
found these apparent “ pleasure grounds ” of various sizes, 
suited to the humble cottage or prin^ly mansion, “ Even in 
my own limited experience of these strange regions,” says 
Martin, “ I have felt it diflacult to realize the fact, that so far 
from having been adorned by the hand of civilized man, they 
were untrodden, save by the foot of the wandering savage.” 

Capt. Sturt, by far the greatest of Australian discoverers, 
and who, in the year 1840, penetrated into the interior on the 
north beyond the 145th meridian and on the south beyond the 
140th, says, “ that the country preserved, as far as he was able 
to see from some hills, the same uniform appearance of an im¬ 
mense level plain. This extensile country resembles as little 
the plains of South America covered with abundant g!*as& Rs 
the African Sahara with its moving sands; it seems to approach 
in character to the steppes which surround the lake of Aral, 
and extend to the Caspian Sea and Q ral Mountains. These 
plains of Australia are, in many parts, extremely level; iu 
others, they are slightly undulating; and here and there, but at 
great distances, sometimes more than a hundred miles, a sandy 
eminence arises, which scarcely deserves to be called a hill; the 
loftiest of these eminences are not above three hundred feet 
higher than the plain on which they stand.” 

Again Capt. Sturt says, “My impression when traveling the 
country to the west and north-west of the marshes of the Mac- 


12 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


qiiarrie river, was, that I was traversing a country of compara¬ 
tively recent formation, The sandy nature of the soil, the great 
want of vegetable decay, the solsolaceous character of the 
plants, the appearance of the isolated hills and flooded tracts, 
and its trifling elevation above the sea, severally contributed to 
strengthen these impressions on my mind.” 

The conjecture of Capt. Sturt that Australia is of a more 
recent formation than the rest of the globe is by no means sin¬ 
gular, but how far correct we cannot say. 

RIVERS. 

The riv'crs, at present discovered, when compared with the 
extent of the country, are small, and are subject to floods in 
winter and drouths in ^mraer, many of them being in the 
latter season mere chains of ponds. 

The principal navigable rivers are the Murray, which flows 
about 1300 miles, and forms the boundary beiv/een the provinces 
of New South Wales and Victoria, and empties itself into the 
sea, through the Lake Alexandrina, in South Australia; the 
Hunter, Brisbane, Albert and Adelaide, in New South Wales; 
the Prince Regent, Fitzroy, Glenelg and Swan, in Western 
Australia. 

GEOLOGY. 

The geological character of the soil of Australia has, as yet, 
been only imperfectly examined. Indeed, not one-fifth of its 
immense territory has been trod by the foot of civilized man, 
and it is impossible to foretell, particularly after the astounding 
' developments of the past two years, what may be in store for 
the future geologist and mineralogist. 

The mountain ranges on the east coast of New South Wales 
have an axis of granite, with large masses of greenstone basalt. 
They are flanked on both sides chiefly by beds of sandstone, 
containing limestone and coal. In Victoria there are also similar 
igneous rocks. In the north thei’e is a great sandstone plateau, 
rising to 1800 feet above the sea, whilst on the immediate shore 
and round the Gulf of Carpentaria are beds supposed to belong 


13 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

to the tertiary period. In Western Australia the Darling Moun¬ 
tains consist of granite below, covered by metamorphic rocks, 
and between them and the sea is a plain composed of tertiary 
beds. 

MINERALOGV. 

The mineral riches of Australia are vast. Gold has been 
discovered throughout the whole extent of the mountain range 
which runs in a line with the eastern coast, at an average dis¬ 
tance of one hundred miles from the coast, commencing in the 
north at Bingaree, in Cooksland, New South Wales, and ex¬ 
tending south to the Australian Alps and Pyrenees, in Victoria ; 
but the«basin of the Murray may be said to constitute the Aus¬ 
tralian gold field. Gold has also been found near the Onkapa- 
ringa river, in South Australia. The gold region, at present 
known, is computed to extend over sixty thousand square miles. 
There are numerous and valuable mines of copper in South 
Australia and New South Wales. Iron is found in large quan¬ 
tities in New South Wales, and lead in South Australia and 
New South Wales. Coal, of the best quality, has been dug 
from the mines near the city of Newcastle, about eighty mile* 
north of Sydney, for nearly forty years. It is also found ex¬ 
tensively at Gippsland, in Victoria, and other parts of the south. 
Limestone is abundant in various parts of the country. Marble, 
of beautiful quality, is found in Argyle county, and clay for 
pottery in Durham county. New South Wales. 

THE SEASONS. 

The seasons in Australia are the reverse of ours, July is mid¬ 
winter, January, midsummer. The spring and autumn are 
brief, and the transition from oile season to the other is so im¬ 
perceptible, that it is difficult to say when the one begins or the 
other ends. Spring sets in early in September, when the at¬ 
mosphere acquires a delightful warmth 5 as the season advances, 
the fall of rain decreases, the heat increases, and about the 
middle of November summer commences; autumn begin* 
about the middle of March, and early in April genial shower* 


u 


GENERAL DESCRirxION. 


cover the earth with a bright verdure, and the atmosphere be¬ 
comes cool and buoyant. Early in June winter commences, 
and by tlfe middle of July torrents of rain have inundated the 
country and have rendered the water courses mighty streams. 
This cold rainy season generally terminates by the end of 
August. With the exception of about twenty-five hot days 
and sixty disagreeable or wet days, the weather is indescribably 
pleasant, the air is balmy and bright, scarcely a cloud is visible^ 
and the sun looks down from the deep blue sky in unveiled 
splendor. Day and night are nearly of equal length through¬ 
out the year. The sun never remains above the horizon above 
fourteen hours and a half, nor less than ten hours and a half. 
The greater number of the nights are most enchanting. The 
southern constellations shine forth from the dark heavens in 
unrivalled brightness, and the haloed moon pours her chastened 
radiance on the plains and mountains with such refulgence that 
every thing for miles around is distinctly visible. 

The thermometer in Sydney and Melbourne frequently 
reaches in summer 90 or 100 deg. Fahrenheit in the shade. 
In winter it rarely ranges below 46 deg. Hoar frosts some¬ 
times occur ; ice seldom or never. On the mountains snow lies 
in winter, but is rarely seen in the plains or valleys. There is 
but one instance on record of snow falling in Sydney, and that 
was on the lYth of June, 1836. 

The wind which blows from the north is always extremelv 
dry and often violent. In winter it is moderately warm, in 
summer it is intensely hot, and rushes on wi^li the velocity of a 
hurricane. It seldom occurs more than four or five times every 
summer and lasts but a few days. It has been supposed that 
these winds derive their heat from passing over a great extent 
of arid and heated country, which deprives them of all moisture. 
Lieut. Breton, in his “ Tour in New South Wales,” says, “ I 
rode fifty miles a day in the hot wind without feeling more in¬ 
convenience than in a hot day in England ; and at night I have 
slept in the open air, my saddle for fi pillow—the breeze balmy, 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


u 

the firmament studded with innumerable bright stars shining 
sweetly through the deep blue of that cloudless sky, and never 
yet experienced any ill effects from it; indesd, in a climate 
like that of New South Wales, I question if any thing is to be 
feared from night exposure.” 

CLIMATE. 

As respects the mortality of Australia, according to a report 
of several medical men, we find, ‘‘That the probability of life 
for any number of children born in these provinces is higher 
than for a similar number born in England ; that people arriv¬ 
ing in the hey-day of life are more likely to shorten their exist¬ 
ence than lengthen it; that people who arrive in the decline of 
life are likely to add some fifteen or twenty years to their lives 
by locating in these provinces.” Instances of longevity are nu¬ 
merous ; the number of persons above one hundred years of 
age, as compared with the amount of population, is large. 

All writers agree upon the salubrity of the climate, however 
much they may differ on the capabilities of the country. 

“ The healthiness of the climate,” says a writer in the Eclectic 
Review^ “ has been tested for more than half a century ; and 
from Wide Bay to WTlson’s Promontory, and the breezy ridges 
of Geelong, all the stages of heat and moisture are found favor¬ 
able to life and enjoyment. Are the fervors of the plain too 
great, then there is the bracing air of the mountains and table 
lands; are the chills of the heights too piercing, then there are 
sunny vales. No epidemic or endemic diseases are known. 
Dysentery and diarrhoea may be guarded against; the imported 
diseases die out, or are fended off by quarantine,” 

ANIMALS, ETC. 

It is at least remarkable that nature has in several instances 
put on a different form in Australia from what is customary 
elsewhere. Among the animal tribes, the chief are of the 
pouched kind, and move forward by springing. The kangaroo 
is the principal animal of this description, and there are different 
kinds of them, some are from four to five feet while squatting 

2 


16 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


on their hind legs. They will leap twenty feet at a bound, by 
which movement they are able to outstrip a horse at full gallop* 
They are fast disappearing from the settled parts of the country. 
Opossums, kangaroo rats, bandicoots, and a sort of bear called 
a wombat, which is harmless, and its flesh has the flavor of a 
sucking pig, are numerous. There are also squirrels, moles 
and others, chiefly of a marsupial character. There is an ani¬ 
mal half bird half beast, possessing the bill and feet of a duck 
and the body of a mole or rat, called the ornithorrhyneus para¬ 
doxus. There are no wild savage animals, except the dingo or 
native dog. 

Of birds, there are some curious varieties, both large and small. 
There are great varieties of parrots, parroquets and cockatoos, 
all with exceedingly beautiful plumage, green, red, purple and 
white. Doves, pigeons and birds of paradise are equally splendid 
in their feathery garments. There are also emus or Australian 
ostriches, herons, black swans, white crows, pelicans, quails, 
snipes, hawks and the jacquar or laughing jackass. 

They are several kinds of native bees (without stings), which 
produce a great quantity of delicious honey. Of snakes, there 
are several varieties, some of them poisonous. Mosquitoes pre¬ 
vail in the uncleared districts, where there are marshes and 
trees to harbor them. In some places' fleas are described as 
being very troublesome. 

The rivers abound with fish, some with cod of a large size, 
salmon trout, perch, mullet, eels, &c. Shrimps, mussels and 
oysters are plentiful and of fine quality. The seal and whale 
fisheries on the coasts offer boundless scope for profitable advent 
ture to the initiated. 

THE ABORIGINES. 

The aborigines lead the usual life of savages, roaming through^ 
out the interior in small tribes, each claiming as head quarters a 
respective territory. They are inconsiderable in numbers, 
of very black complexion, and in general tall and slim, 
with comparatively large heads, large lips, and wide mouths, 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


11 


and are altogether the reverse of what we would call beautiful. 
They have been considered, although the opinion is not com¬ 
pletely borne out by experience, as amongst the lowest in the 
scale of intellect. There is certainly less mechanical genius 
amongst them—fewer contrivances to improve the original con¬ 
dition of man—than can be found amongst savages on any part 
of the globe. Their only weapons are a rude spear, which they 
throw' with great precision ; and a short club, called by them¬ 
selves a waddie. Their huts are of the poorest description, and 
their food consists of fish, grubs, worms, wild berries, &c. All 
attempts to civilize them has hitherto failed, and, with the ex¬ 
ception of a few who wander about the cities and towns, who 
this contiguity has, in some degree, forced iuto a half-domesti¬ 
cated state—that is, imbued them with the vices of civilization— 
they still wander in the interior, perhaps not altogether undis¬ 
puted “ lords of the wilderness.” Since the gold mania, we 
have received the following from a flcckinaster: “ the natives 
were proving more useful than could be expected, my sheep at 
present are managed entirely by natives. They make first-rate 
shepherds, but they cannot shear. One poor fellow, whom I 
once shot at for sheep stealing, has had the entire charge of 
1,600 ewes, and has reared 1,240 lambs from them, w'hich is 
more than I could have looked for in the case of a wdiite man.” 
Another says, “ any person may command their services by the 
slightest effoits at kindness and conciliation.” 

The Corobory, or native dance, consists of violent gestures, 
in which it is easy to perceive the agile and flexible movements 
that are acquired by a savage life. A low murmur, gradually 
increasing in loudness, until it grows into a wild and prolonged 
yell, constitutes the musical accompaniment. Spears jagged 
with glass, which they brandish fiercely, as if bidding defiance 
to some imaginary foe, renders the scene a little unpleasant to 
the beholders, who might fancy from their caperings, that the 
next act of the entertainment might be an onslaught upon the 
spectatQvs. This violent exercise of the lungs and limbs gene- 


18 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


rally lasts for about two hours, when weariness becomes apparent, 
and the wild excitement gradually subsides, and the performers 
sink on thq grass into the deep slumber of physical exhaustion^ 
Tliese exhibitions always take place by moonlight. 

It is interesting to see a native “ Kangarooing.” All his 
energies, instinct and cunning are brought into play. When he 
comes to a place likely to contain game, he becomes watchful, 
his eyes roll about, his body erect and motionless as a statue. 
After a while he moves, his stop noiseless and cautious. When 
ho sees a Kangaroo he becomes riveted to the spot, not a move¬ 
ment of either body or limb is observable. The uninitiated 
observer at a short distance looks in vain for the cause of this 
attitude; after straining his eyes for some time, he at length 
perceives the head of a kangaroo peeping over the long grass, 
in the direction of the native. The two animals watch each 
other for a variable period, until the kangaroo, (which has per¬ 
suaded itself that the motionless object before it is lifeless,) has 
gone down again on all-fours, to dig a root or play with its 
young. The dark object then moves with measured pace 
towards his victim, which takes another peep to see if all is 
right. The native again assumes his fixed attitude. In this 
way he keeps advancing with extraordinary care and patience, 
sometimes for nearly an hour, until within reach of his game ; 
then the fatal spear is placed in the throw-stick by a sort of 
magic, for no apparent motion accompanies the operation, the 
weapon is poised, and sent with unerring aim and effect. The 
natives now, with hideous yells, pursue the \vounded animal, 
which of course does all in its power to escape, but is soon 
obliged, by pain or loss of blood to cease running; it then 
takes up a position with its back to a ti\e or rock, determined 
to defend itself or its progeny ; but a few well directed spears 
from a short distance soon decide the contest. Poor kano-aroo 
dies, is carried away in triumph, and is soon devoured. 

TREES. 

Of the Australian trees, the Blue Gum is the most abun? 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


19 


dant. It often attains the heiglit of eighty feet without any 
branches—the diameter beina: sometimes eia^ht or nine feet. It 
is tough and heavy, and its timber is used for the manufacture 
of drays and wagons. 

The White Gum affords the best flooring and weather 
boards. 

The Mountain Eucalyptus, or Stringy Bark, every where 
abounds, along the summit and sides of the mountain ranges. 
Its timber is also valuable, and its bark, more than an inch in 
thickness, is capable of being stripped off in pieces eight or ten 
feet square, affording the materials of a cabin or hut, which, in 
summer, will amply shelter those to whom the elegance of their 
abode is but a secondary consideration. Many thousands of 
gold miners and others are sheltered by the stringy bark in the 
Australian diggings. Dr. Lang mentions a friend of his, a retired 
captain, as living in a house made of stringy bark. 

The native Cedar is the material from which furniture is 
made. It ver}vmuch resembles mahogany, and it is difficult 
for the casual observer to distinguish the difference. The doors 
of houses in the cities are generally constructed of it. 

The River Oak is of small size, but with a hard grain, inca¬ 
pable of being split, and is used for making the fellies of wheels. 

The Myall is a small but elegant tree, generally growing in 
belts around the margin of the open and grassy .plains. Its 
silvery aspect and drooping branches contrast finely with the 
dark brows foliage of the Eucalyptus. Its grain is compact 
and hard, with alternate shades of yellow and brown, and emits 
a very pleasant smell. The natives make their boomerangs, 
waddies, spear.s, &c., of its timbers. 

The Pine, which is found in the northern settlement of 
Cooksland and Moreton Bay, is a very valuable tree, and is a 
great article of export to Sydney and the southern settlements. 

The Tea Tree is a shrub rather than a tree, generally forming 
a thick underw'ood along the streams. A decoction of its leaves 
is used for the same purpose as we use China tea. 


20 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


The Tulip Wood and Sassafras are very abundant, but like 
the banksias, the aborescent fern, and the cabbage palm, are 
ornamental rather than useful. Of the leaves of the last 
mentioned plant are made the hats that are worn by shepherds 
and squatters. 

FARMS AND FARMERS. 

The farm houses are rough, but generally substantial and 
commodious ; they are built of various materials, according to 
circumstances; if good stone or slate is handy, it is used, if 
not, and suitable clay is in the vicinity, bricks are resorted to, 
and when these materials are not to be had, the dwelling is 
built of wood, and usually have no ceiling nor upper floor, 
when you look up you see the roof; the walls are generally 
bare, some may just get lime-washed. The windows are 
sometimes canvass, sometimes glass. For flooring some have 
only earth, some are paved with stone or slate, or bricks, and 
some few have wood floors. The water is procured by sinking 
wells. Near the farm house is the strongly-bailt stock yard, 
barn, stable, and other outbuildings. The farms are enclosed 
with rude wood feiices. The farmers furnish their dwellinofs 
with few articles of domestic convenience, and most of them 
manufacture their own furniture. Thej'^ all live on plain and 
substantial food ; some of the more wealthy keep a stock of 
European wines and British bottled ale and porter. The far¬ 
mers and all who reside away from the cities or villages, dress 
in coarse apparel. The usual male attire is a pair of common 
slop trowsers, a blue guernsey, with a leather belt to keep up 
the trowsers and the guernsey down, a flaunting red handker¬ 
chief for a neck-tie, a broad-brimmed cabbage-tree hat, and a 
pair of boots. The farmers’ wives, and daughters generally 
dress in cottons ; their attire, although coarse, is neat, chaste, 
and tidy ; they wear high dresses and cotton sun-bonnets; they, 
nevertheless, have their jewelry, silks, &c., which they wear on 
festive occasions. They are usually well educated, devoid of 
affectation, thrifty and industrious. “ Indeed,” says a recent 


General description. 


21 


traveller, “ I was struck, in my travels through the country,' 
with the beauty, the accomplished graces, the glowing health, 
the vivacity, and the open-heartedness of the fair sex in the 
rural districts, and I should be wanting in gratitude did I not 
record their disinterested kindness, attention, and general 
liberality to- the vvandering'stranger.” Most of the farmers and 
others in the rural districts, though parsimonious to a fault, are 
Btraightfoi'ward and honorable in their business transactions, 
kind and considerate to their neighbors, and generous and hos¬ 
pitable to strangers. 

THE SQUATTER. 

Squatter is the colonial phrase for the great flock-masters 
who reside beyond the boundaries of the counties, and within 
what are called the Commissioners’ districts. Many of them 
hold from 20 to GO square miles for their sheep and cattle 
runs ; they pay a license to government of £10 per year; also 
•^d. per head for sheep ; Id. for cattle, and l-|-d. for horses. 
They seldom account for near the quantity of stock they have 
on their runs. Some of them have as many as 40,000 sheep, 
and 5,000 head of cattle and a great many horses. Many of 
the owners are wealthy men, who reside in the cities, but gene¬ 
rally the squatter is a man who emigrated with a moderate 
capital, and became attracted by the climate, free life, and pro¬ 
fits of sheep and cattle grazing. It is not unusual to find 
among squatters men who have graduated in the Colleges of 
Oxford or Cambridge, and even broken down scions of the 
British aristocracy. The bush farmers, though living in slight 
wooden houses, and at great distances from each other, hold their 
hunting parties—their chief amusement consisting in chasing 
the kangaroo, the emu, or the dingo. In these recreations they 
find an imperfect substitute for the “ hunts ” of the old country. 
To settle with their agents in the cities, it is necessary to go 
up to “ town” once in every year, and it is an _easy thing to 
recognise in the streets of Sydney or Melbourne the bush far¬ 
mer, by his healthy, robust look, and independent bearing. It 


22 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


requires all his tact to cope with the sharp-witted commision 
merchants with whom he comes in contact. During his short 
stay in the cities, the bush farmer generally resumes the man- 
tiers and habiliments of a gentleman; lives in the best hotels, 
treats himself and friends, and enters into dissipation and 
gaiety with a relish made keen by long abstinence. In a few 
days he becomes satiated with his debauch, and dispatching his 
carters with his drays, he mounts his horse, almost an Arab in 
vigor and spirit, and once more seeks his “station”—often 
600 or 600 miles av»’ay in the interior. 

THE SHEPHERD OR HERDSMAN. 

The life of the shepherd in the Australian wilds is any thing 
but agreeable to a man who has been used to the amenities of 
civilized life. Confined to one district all the year round, and 
during that time seeing scarcely any other individual but his 
companion the hut keeper. Leading the same dull life day 
after day, and living on nothing but damper—flour and water 
baked on wood embers—mutton, tea, and tobacco smoke; 
sleeping at night in a bed alive with fleas, and his hut neither 
wind nor water tight. To the needy, however, it affords ready 
employment, plenty of food, and a rough home. Many of the 
now wealthy settlers commenced their career as shepherds, and 
by perseverance and thrift elevated themselves in society. 

SPORTING. 

There are no game laws in Australia—the wild animals are 
considered common property, and every hunter and settler hunts 
and shoots them whenever he pleases. The animals hunted 
are the dingo or native dog, kangaroo and the emu. The native 
dogs are very numerous and troublesome. They prowl about 
in the night time, and when pressed by hunger will come 
almost to the door of the shepherd^s huts, and leap among a 
flock of sheep on one side of the fold, while the watchman is in 
his box on the other side. They frequently visit the farm yards, 
where the}^ feast on all that, comes in their way, from the 
poultry to the calves, or even the foals. The destroying the 


oenerAl description. 


dingo is alike amusing and profitable to the farmers and the 
squatters, who hunt them with kangaroo dogs, a breed between 
a greyhound and a mastiff. At every homestead and station 
you will find some of these dogs, and settlers spend much time 
with them in search of the dingo, which, when discovered, is 
too cunning to be easily taken. If three or four are together^ 
on making the alarm, they will all probably fly off in opposite 
directions ; whenever possible, they hide themselves in inacces- 
fcible mountain ravines, or holes in the banks of rivers* Their 
rcent, however, is so strong, that the dogs arc rarely at fault. 
When hunting the dingo, as soon as the dogs are fully on the 
scent, the settlers give rein to their horses, and bound away 
over hill and dale, clearing every obstruction in a style that 
would astonish the most adventurous British steeple chaser. 
Immediately the dog catch the prey, they tear him to pieces. 

The kangaroo is sometimes hunted for food, as his flesh is 
eatable, especially the tail, which makes a rich soup. The 
kangaroo, when hard pressed, will turn about, place his back 
to a tree, and vigorously fight for his life; he will seize and 
tightly grasp a dog in his fore paws, and with the hard long 
nail of his powerful hind foot, rip the animal to death. They 
have been known to drown dogs, and, when hard pressed, after 
a long chase, to attack man. “ I know^ a person,” says Lance¬ 
lot, “ who accidentally came upon a kangaroo, to which he 
gave chase ; after a long run, the creature turned and fought 
desperately, killing one dog and disabling anotiier. Finding 
his dogs overmatched, the bushman inconsidei’ately dismounted 
from his horse, when the kangaroo flew at liirn, .severely 
wounded him with its powerful claws, then took" him up, car¬ 
ried him to a pond hard by, and endeavored to drown him. 
When rescued by some brother hunters, who happened to be 
near, he w'as insensible; he was confined to his bed for six 
weeks afterwards.” 

The Emu, or Australian Ostrich, is also hunted by dogs, A 
valuable medicinal oil is extracted from its carcase, 


24 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


AGRICULTURE, ETC. 

Owing to the great pastoral resourses of Australia and the 
easy rnethod of raising a fortune by sheep and cattle farming, 
agriculture has been comparatively neglected, sufficient corn and 
grain having only been raised to supply the wants of its own 
population. In some seasons even it has not raised that, and 
its deficiencies have been supplied from the neighboring islands 
of Van Diemen’s Land and New Zealand. Of late years, how¬ 
ever, South Australia has grown considerably more wheat than 
served the colonists, and great quantities have been exported to 
the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius, and even to England, 
where it was ranked as an article of first-rate quality. When, 
however, the colonies shall have recovered from the shock occa¬ 
sioned by the gold panic, no doubt, agricultuie will meet with 
due attention, as a great supply of produce, which must fetch 
highly remunerative prices, will be necessary for the very rap¬ 
idly increasing population. 

Most of the cereal and vegetable productions and fruits of 
Europe and America grow vigorously in Australia. Wheat, 
Indian corn, barley, oats, millet, potatoes, &c., thrive abun¬ 
dantly. Vines flourish on the rich alluvion on the banks of the 
Ilawkesbury, Nepean, Hunter and more northern rivers, and in 
tliat “ loviest spot in nature,” the beautiful valley of Ilawarra, 
in New South Wales ; on the volcanic soil of Barrabool hills, in 
V^ictoria; on the banks of the Murray and Torrens in South 
Australia; and on the Swan and Canning rivers in West Aus¬ 
tralia, and numerous other localities. Considerable quantities 
of wine and brandy are manufactured by the settlers from the 
Rhenish provinces of Germany. Near Sydney the orangeries 
are extensive and give large yearly returns, the fruit finding 
purchasers in the Sydney market at twenty-five cents per dozen. 
Peaches thrive well all over the provinces, and in some localities 
are given to swine as the most profitable way of getting rid of 
them. Lemons, pomegranates, apricots, nectarines, bananas 
and many other rare fruits, luxuriate in the open air. Tobacco 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 


ib 


grows plentifully in Durham county and the settlements north, 
and the cotton plant flonrishes perennially in Cooksland and 
around Moreton Bay. 

The great resource of Australia (previous to the gold discov¬ 
eries) consisted, says Dr. Lang, “in an illimitable extent of pas¬ 
ture land, which it presents in every direction to the sheep 
farmer or proprietor of cattle.” No country ou the face of the 
-earth appears so admirably adapted for the raising of sheep and 
the production of wool of the finest quality. Australian wool 
takes the lead in the markets of Europe, and so readily and 
profitably is it disposed of, that the cost of transport of sixteen 
thousand miles goes almost for nothing in the grower’s calcula¬ 
tion of profits. In proof of this, the exports of wool from the 
various provinces and islands of Australia to Great Britain, in 
the year 1851, amounted to no less than forty-four millions of 
pounds. In 1812, the quantity exported amounted to only 
840 pounds weight. 

So rapid is the increase of stock, that notwithstanding the 
immense amount of pasturage, the squatters and farmers 
were obliged, in consequence thereof, some eight or ten years 
ago, to commence a system of “ boiling down ” their flocks and 
herds, for the sake of their tallow, hides and horns. Martin 
says, “ the average weight of tallow obtained from a sheep ia 
about 26 lbs. The expense of converting sheep into talloWj 
sorting and packing the skin, wool, &c., is about one shilling 
sterling per sheep, which may be covered by converting the peltj 
horns, hoofs, sinews and entrails into glue ; each sheep would 
yield about 4 lbs. of glue. The intrinsic value of an ordinary 
four-year old beast, consists of 80 lbs. ot tallow at 32s. 
per cwt.; hide, horns, glue, bones, refuse and meat, 148. 6d.^ 
making £2 sterling.” 

The great accession to the population within the past few 
months, will, we may suppose, give the squatters .and farmer* 
a chance of selling the carcasses of their animals. 

The following table shows, at one view, the provinces and 


26 


GENERAL DESCRIPTION 


Islands, the year when settled, their territorial extent, the white 
population and stock in each (in round numbers), computed to 
the close of the year 1852 . 



o 

o 

o 

o 

O 

o 

o 

• 

o 

o 

o 

o 

O 

o 

o 

CO 

U) 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 



o 

G 

o' 

co" 

d 

o 

o 

o 

rH 


o 

r—t 

rH 


<N 

o 

UO 


rH 





rH 

<N 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

O 

• 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

<6 

m 




CD^ 

o 

o 


u 

o 

o 


00 

o 

o 

icT 

K 

io 





rH 

IQ 

(M 






CO 


O 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 


O 

o 

o 

o 

o 



P 

o" 

CD 

cd' 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

O 

o 

lO 

o 

o 

o 


CN 

GO 

(M 


CD 

CO 

rH 


c-f 








o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

• 

o 

o 

o 



o 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

d 

o" 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

CQ 

o 

lO 

o 

o 

lO 


o 


CD 

CO 

CO 


lO 

rH 

lb 


1-^ 






CO 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

*3 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o_ 

o 

o'" 

o" 

d 


o" 

o 


& 

CD 

(M 

o 

r-H 

o 

05 

OO 

o 

CO 

(M 

7~H 



rH 

05 

00 

o 

O 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 


o 

o 


o 

o 

o 

o 


o 

o 

o 

o 

id" 

(M 

05 

u 

o 

o 

o 

o 

<N 

CM 


a 

CD 


CO 

o 


rH 

rH 


rs 











rH 



CO 

= "3 

GO 

CD 

CD 

CD 

(M 

o 

• 

• 


00 

CO 

CO 

<M 

O 

'an 

• 

► ••i 


CO 

CO 

00 

00 

CO 

• 



rH 

r-H 

rH 

rH 

rH 

• 

• 


• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Tf 

• 

• 

• 

• 

03 




* 

c 


• 

T3 

9 

O) 

• 

• 

• 

CS 

• 

• ' 

CS 

(A 

c3 

• 

ct 

.5 

dJ 

CC 

• 

: ' i 

'C 

i 


• 

• 

P 


'b 

O) 

'D 

3 

• 

rs 

03 

03 

o 

a 

V 

o 

Oj 

• 

Cv 

o 

3 

< 

ic 

< 

s 

<I> 

s 

3 

<D 

CsJ 

'c3 

O 

H 

i; 

p: 

o 

> 

o 

CQ 

cn 

<X> 

fi 

3 

c; 

> 


1 

i 


I 


a 

.2 

,5 

3 

tx. 

o 

cw 

<p 

*♦3 

ea 

c 

o 

’C 

o 

ca 


o 


w 

Of 

'T3 

o 

a 


I 


V 








































PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


27 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 

EXTENT. 

The province of New South Wales contains all that portion 
of Australia lying eastward of the 129th degree of E. Longi¬ 
tude of Greenwich, excepting those portions occupied by South 
Australia and Victoria. Its extreme length, north and south, 
is 1,750 miles. Its extreme breadth, east and west, is 1,500 
miles. The territorial area is computed at one million six 
hundred thousand square miles, or rather more than one half 
of all continental Australia. But the occupied portion of the 
province does not exceed 900 miles by the coast line, from 
Wide Bay on the north to Cape Howe on the south, on the 
boundary line of Victoria; and 500 miles from the east coast 
to the river Darling in the west—the superficial contents 
being about 330,000 square miles. It is at present divided into 
forty-six counties, which occupy the whole coast and extend 
not more than from 100 to 200 miles in the interior—the 
residue of the country west to the Darling being occupied by 
Commissioners’ districts. 

PHYSICAL ASPECT. 

The general appearance of the coast, with few exceptions, is 
dreary and uninviting, presenting a continuous front of steep 
cliffs and walled precipices, unbroken for many miles toge¬ 
ther; behind these, again, and running along the whole 
eastern coast, generally parallel with them, at a distance of 
fifty to sixty miles from the sea, is the “ mountain belt ” of 
Australia—the Blue Mountains—a chain of rocky, precipitous 
and almost impassible mountains, rising to a height of 3,000 to 
4,000 feet. This lofty ridge separates the waters that flow 
towards the sea from those that have an inland course. The 
maritime boundary is generally bold and deeply indented. For 

3 


28 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


a few miles inland, the country is barren and rocky, presenting 
little signs of vegetation except stunted shrubs and dwarf under¬ 
wood. Beyond this, the soil improves, and begins to be en¬ 
cumbered with tali and stately trees, which soon thicken into a 
~ magnificent forest, indicating a more luxuriant soil than that 
just passed. Advancing six or nine miles further into the in¬ 
terior, and you have cleared the forest, the country improving 
with every mile as you advance—now presenting a succession of 
hill and dale—covered with luxuriant vegetation; now exten¬ 
sive plains like gentlemen’s parks in England ; covered with 
bleating flocks and lowing herds, diversified by villages, farms, 
and cottages, and intersected by broad and excellent turn¬ 
pike roads. We quote Martin, “ If we view New South 
Wales as a region ten times the size of England, with a cli¬ 
mate unsurpassed for salubrity, and peculiarly adapted for the 
Anglo-Saxon race, with a table land of nearly half a million of 
square miles, supported for a thousand miles by gigantic moun¬ 
tain buttresses of four to six thousand feet high, this table 
land evervw'here, and for the whole vear round, covered with a 
most nutricious herbage, admirably adapted for the feed of 
sheep and cattle, and intersected by a net-work of streams ; the 
mountains clothed with useful timber, the valleys, where culti¬ 
vated, yielding fifty to a hundred fold of grain, the coast line 
indented by secure havens, and the ocean, the lakes, and the 
rivers teeming with fish—some idea may be formed of the im¬ 
portance of this valuable section of the British empire.” 

THE GOLD REGION. 

For the following statement of the present state of the Gold 
Region of the province of New South Wales, with the diflferent 
localities and their capabilities, and the number of workers in 
the diggings, &c., W’e are indebted to the Editor of the Sydney 
Empire :—^ 

There is a vast field for mining enterprize at the Turon, both 
on the river itself, and on the table land in the - vicinity, whence 
its tributaries take their rise. Many of these tributaries. Big 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


29 


✓ 


Oakey and Little Oakey Creek especially, have yielded a large 
amount of gold. On the table land, where their source is,* 
parties have been at work for months, making large earnings, 
and more extensive research would, undoubtedly, develop many 
rich deposits at this place. Along the Bathurst road gold has 
been found, and at Wyagden hill, midway between that town 
and the Turon, operations on a large scale, which promise to 
be successful have been begun. There are miles in. extent of 
this river in which, although there is every likelihood that 
deposits of the precious metal will be found, no attempt has 
as yet been made to develop the probable riches. The bed of 
the river alone, auriferous as it is throughout, not to speak of 
the hills or the creeks in the vicinity, will afford an almost 
inexhaustible digging ground. 

The Braidwood diggings next claim attention. They are 
confined chiefly to Major’s and Bell’s Creeks, which flow over 
the table land, above the valley of Araluen. They are not 
more than ten or twelve miles distant from the town of Braid- 
w’ood. At one time there must have been nearly 2,000 per¬ 
sons on Major’s and Bell’s Creeks, and at Araluen, but at 
present there is not, at most, more than 500. The average 
earnings at these diggings approximate to those at the Turon, 
as at the latter place many instances of surprising good fortune 
have occurred. At Mungarlow, some fifteen or twenty miles 
from Major’s Creek, remunerative diggings have been opened, 
and several nuggets have been found weighing up to 8 or 10 
ounces. At the Braidwood diggings the gold is generally 
fine, and is reckoned to be very pure. 

About thirty miles north of the Turon are the Meroo dig¬ 
gings. The Meroo is a river somewhat resembling the Turon 
in its general features, and in its banks large deposits of gold 
have been found. The geological character of the country is 
somewhat similar to that of the Turon. The diggings extend 
several miles along the river. The yield of gold is generally 
large, and the gold itself coarse with occasional large nuggets, 


30 PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 

At the Louisa river beautiful specimens of gold iu the ma¬ 
trix are constantly procured, and nearly all the gold obtained 
here is coarse and not waterworn. Nuggets of lai’ge size have 
been discovered. The hundi*ed weight every one is familiar 
'with. Brenan’s 271^ lump'was found at the Louisa, as was 
also the lai'gest water-worn niigget yet obtained, weighing 
157 ounces, besides numerous other nuggets of less size, 
which it would be tedious to enumerate. The heavy rains 
have greatly interfered with all the diggings. Generally speak¬ 
ing a man may earn 20s, sterling per day, if the weather is 
favorable and he sticks to his -work. Tlie number of diggers 
on the Meroo, the Louisa, and other places in the neighbor’- 
hood, may be put down at 1,500. 

At Golden Gully, and the Bald Hill also, the'diggings are 
very prolific, and to all appearances an extensive region teeming 
with golden wealth lies around. 

The Hanging Rock may be regarded as among the number of 
those gold fields whose richness has been established. It is 
situated at River Peel in New England. The Oakenville, 
Hurdle, and Oakey Creeks, flowing into the Peel, have been 
found to be rich in auriferous deposits, and a large tract of 
country in the vicinity presents the same indications. The 
number of diggers at the Hanging Rock is about 200, who are 
now doing exceedingly well. As much as 20 ounces per diem 
have been obtained here, and dry diggings have been discovered 
wdiich promise to be exceedingly rich. 

Of the remaining gold fields, which are so only by anticipa¬ 
tion, their riches not having been developed, and but little 
being known of their extent, the Abercrombie is one of the 
longest known, and probably one of the most important. 

An extensive gold field has been discovered at the Ballabeng 
Range, wdiich lies nearly a hundred miles to the west of Ba¬ 
thurst, between the waters of the Lachlan and Bogan. Schist 
and quartz ar’e the constituent rocks, and specimens of gold in 
the matrix have been found. 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


31 


The last discovered diggings in this province, which have 
excited the most sanguine expectations of their future produc¬ 
tiveness, are Bingara, situated on the Conraugoura Creek, which 
joins the Gwydir, seventy miles to the north-west of Tamworth. 
The diggers who first discovered the treasures of this locality 
made extraordinary gains in a short time, and the gold ap¬ 
peared to lie in such abundance on all sides as to be inexhausti¬ 
ble. The gold obtained has consisted chiefly of nuggets and 
coarse grain very little worn. Nuggets weighing fourteen and 
sixteen ounces have been obtained. Upon the intelligence of 
the success of these diggings, a large number of persons set 
out for them, and at present we dare say there are 300 on the 
ground. 

The total number of diggers engaged in the various localities 
referred to is about 6,000, and looking at the extent of the 
auriferous country it is no exaggeration to state that there is 
probable employment for 200,000 persons, or double the popu¬ 
lation at present at the Victoria diggings. 

Companies have been lately formed in the colony for the 
more eftectual development of the wealth of the gold fields by 
operations conducted on an extensive scale, directed by scientific 
skill, and aided by all the available mechanical appliances of 
modern art and industry. About half a dozen of these com¬ 
panies have already not only been formed, but have actually 
' commenced operations. 

Gold has been found throughout more than eight degrees of 
latitude, from Bingara at the north, to the ranges, near Cape 
Otway, in Victoria. There is good reason for believing that it 
exists throughout twelve degrees, as samples of the precious 
metal were found by the late Mr. Roderick Mitchell, son of the 
Surveyor-General, as far North as Mount Abundance at the 
Fitz Roy Downs. The eastern-most diggings in Australia yet 
discovered are those at the Hanging Rock, about the 151st 
degree of E. longitude. 


i 


32 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


CITIES AND PRINCIPAL SETTLEMENTS. 

Sydney^ the preseut metropolis of Australia and principal 
city of New South Wales, is situated on a promontory on the' 
south shore of Port Jackson, seven miles west of the heads at 
the entrance of the port. Sixty five years ago the place was 
a wilderness, inhabited by a few miserable savages. In the 
year 1800, the population of Sydney, consisting of free settlei's 
and convicts, amounted to about 3,000, and at the present time 
it is estimated to be from '70,000 to 80,000. It is a handsome 
built city, the streets are broad and spacious, and generally laid 
out at right angles, and many from one to three miles in length. 
They are paved, or macadamized, regularly cleaned, watered, 
and lit with gas. The buildings, both public and private, may 
vie with the cities of older countries—the modern structures 
especially so. The churches are large and many of them fine 
structures, particularly the Roman Catholic and Episcopal 
'Cathedrals. There are G Episcopal churches, 6 Methodist, 
4 Presbyterian, 3 Catholic, 1 Congregational, 1 Baptist, 1 Unit¬ 
arian, and a Friends’ Meeting-house and a Jews’ Synagogue. 
There are two Colleges, the Australian College and Sydney Col¬ 
lege, well endowed. The Government House is a large handsome 
structure, of the Tudor style of architecture ; it stands on the 
shore of Port Jackson, just out of the city. There are numerous 
literary and scientific institutions, commercial reading rooms and 
libraries, numerous daily, tri weekly, semi-weekly and weekly 
newspapers, mechanics’ institute, Bible, tract and missionary 
societies, a museum of natural history, temperance, free masons, 
and odd fellows lodges, and a splendid park and botanic garden. 
Along the water side there are numerous wharves, stores, ship 
yards, mills, manufactories, distilleries, breweries, steam en¬ 
gines, (fee. Sydney has grown to be a city of great commercial 
importance. We learn from the Sydney Shipping Gazette, 
that, on the 14th of August last, there were over eighty vessels 
lying in port, some seventy expected within a few days, thirteen 
wbaleships therefrom at sea—and there had been tw^elve arrivals 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 3S 

# 

within six days, and a veiy large number of departures. An 
American gentleman thus writes : “ Sydney is three times as 
lai’ge as I expected to find it. Not a single frame house is to 
be found in the place—all are of .brick or sandstone. Many of 
the buildings surpass any that I have seen in Cincinnati; and 
some are of the most splendid description. The climate is de¬ 
lightful ; and I am very much pleased with the better class of 
the inhabitants. Among them there is no prejudice against 
the Americans.” The views from the higher parts of the city 
are bold and picturesque ; the magnificent harbor of Port 
Jackson, studded with islets, indented with coves of singular 
beauty, affords a secure harbor to hundreds of vessels. The 
shores of the port and the surrounding country are inter¬ 
spersed with fine mansions and cottages, and substantial home¬ 
steads. Sydney is the see of a Catholic Archbishop and of the 
Episcopal (metropolitan) Bishop. 

Paramatta^ 16 miles west of Sydney, is situate at the head 
of the narrow inlet of the sea in which Port Jackson terminates 
above Sydne^y. The village is much visited by parties of 
pleasure from Sydney. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the 
scenery which presents itself on all sides as you proceed to 
Paramatta by water; innumerable little promontories covered 
with wood to the water’s edge, stretch into the sea, and forming 
a corresponding number of little bays and inlets. Around the 
dwelling houses are vineyards, orange groves, orchards and 
lawns. Paramatta has a population of 6,000. The greater 
part of the houses are built of brick or white freestone, and 
being for the most part unconnected with each other, cover a 
great extent of ground. The situation of the village is delight¬ 
ful : in a spacious hollow, covered with the richest verdure, and 
surrounded by hills of moderate height. Here, too, are nu¬ 
merous churches, hotels, and all other appendages of a con¬ 
siderable town. A cloth factory, where female convicts are em¬ 
ployed, exists here. 

Windsor, a village SY miles'N. W. of Sydney, in the des- 


34 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


cription of its buildings much resembles Paramatta, is built 
upon a hill close by the river Hawkesbury, which, after a cir¬ 
cuitous route of about 140 miles, discharges itself into Broken 
Bay. AVindsor contains a handsome government house, several 
churches, a court house, a jail, taverns, inns, stores, &c. Its 
population is about 3,000. The lands in the neighborhood are 
exceedingly fertile, but are extremely liable to inundation from 
the Hawkesbury, (in consequence of the vicinity of the Blue 
Mountains,) which has been known to rise to the incredible 
height of 93 feet above its ordinary level. Inundations of 70 
or 80 feet are of frequent occurrence, and the consequences to 
settlei’s within its reach are often fatal, and ruinous to their es¬ 
tablishments. The village itself, which is built on an elevation 
of 100 feet above the level of the river, has hitherto escaped 
these dreadful visitations. 

Liverpool., 18 miles S. W. of Sydney, is situate on the George 
river, which discharges its waters into the celebrated Botanv 
Bay. It has the usual buildings of country villages. The soil 
around is of very indifferent quality, but as the village is on 
the high road to the south and south-western settlements, it is 
a place of considerable bustle and importance. Population 
2 , 000 . 

Maitland., 108 miles N. of Sydney, on the Hunter river, is 
a flourishing place, carrying on considerable business between 
Sydney and the interior. The counties bordering on the 
Hunter form one of the principal agricultural districts of New 
South Wales, and contain a considerable population. In Mait¬ 
land are numerous churches, a court house, inns, stores, (fee. 
Its population exceeds C,000. 

Newcastle, so called from the coal mines in its vicinity, is the 
see of an Episcopal Bishop. The coal deposits, of which it is 
the principal seat, are situate in the counties of Northumber¬ 
land and Durham, through which run the river Hunter, ter¬ 
minating at the port of Newcastle. The mines have the ad¬ 
vantage of being worked upon the level, the coal actually 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


35 


cropping out on the surface, which ensures its freedom from 
water, one of the most troublesome visitors and most serious 
sources of expense in a coal mine. Newcastle is 80 miles N. 
of Sydney and 28 from Maitland. 

At Port Stephens the Australian Agricultural Company has 
an establishment, which is a lucrative concern just now, as con¬ 
siderable gold quartz has been found within their territory, 
which comprises 500,000 acres. As in the case of most colonial 
land companies, its prosperity has not been productive of much 
good to community. The principal coal mines of the province 
belong to this company, and they have not failed to improve 
their monopoly. Twenty miles N. E. of Newcastle. 

Bathurst is 120 miles west of Sydney, and contains 5,000 
inhabitants. It has several churches, a court house and jail, and 
the Circuit Court for the western country isholden here. It con¬ 
tains also an academy, literaiy societies and public libraries. 
From this place to Sydney a road has been carried over the 
Blue Mountains, by the skill of Sir Thomas Mitchell and the 
labor of chained gangs of convicts, by which difficulties of no 
ordinary magnitude have been surmounted, and the pass of 
Mount Victoria, by which a formidable chasm has been filled up 
by an enormous mass of masonry, may rival the best feats of 
Swiss engineering. The gold diggings at Ophir, the first dis¬ 
covered in Australia, are about 40 miles from Bathurst. The 
extensive plains of Bathurst county are now covered with flocks 
and herds of the settlers, and farm houses are scattered all 
over them. From its great height above the sea, the air of 
Bathurst county is peculiarly bright and salubrious, and the 
summer possesses all the brightness without the sultriness of 
the eastern valleys. The best cheese is manufactured here. 

Sofala^ at the diggings, on the Turon river, is just now 
beginning to assume the appearance of a real town. There are 
(or rather there were on the 25th November,) two main streets, 
with many slabbed buildings of respectable appearance, and 
every day new structures may be seen raising their heads. The 


36 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


Episcopalian Cliurcli is progressing fast. It is a simple struc¬ 
ture composed of split stuff and canvass. It is erected on a 
piece of rising ground just beyond the Post-office. The latter 
is a miserable sjabbed building, inconvenient, insecure, and re¬ 
minding one of a cowshed or a fourth-class stable. Sofala is 
30 miles from Bathurst, and 18 through the bush from Ophir. 

Goulhurn and Yass are thriving villages, on the great road 
to Melbourne—the former 150 and the latter 200 miles from 
Sydney. These villages are situate in one of the finest agri¬ 
cultural districts in the country, producing wheat, (fee., of the 
finest quality, and in the greatest abundance. Large tracts oL 
pasture land are every where to be met with, and from the 
geographical position, the climate is of the most delightful 
kind, highly favorable to the raising of cattle, and rendering 
it capable of producing, in great perfection, all the fruits and 
vegetables of Europe. 

Brisbane, the principal place in Cooksland, has a population 
of 3,000, and is increasing rapidly. It is 500 miles north of 
Sydney. Cooksland comprises that portion of the province 
lying north of the 30th degree of S. latitude. Dr. Lang says ; 

“ The cotton plant had been found to be perennial in the 
colony. Cotton had been grown and sent to England, which 
the President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce had 
pronounced to be worth Is. 6d sterling per lb., and if European 
labor could be applied to its cultivation, the supply might be 
made almost inexhaustible. The climate was so healthy and so 
well adapted to the European constitution, that there was no 
difficulty on that ground, while as regarded the labor it was so 
easy that it might be performed by children. There were 
between Sydney and West Bay, our most northerly settlement, 
ten rivers navigable by steam boats, and on the banks of every 
one of these rivers there were many millions of acres of untim¬ 
bered land that could be devoted to cotton growing.” A meet¬ 
ing was lately held at Brisbane to petition the British govern¬ 
ment to form Cooksland into a province separate from New 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALER. . 3? 

South Wales, aud, on account of the scarcity of laborers there, 
to renew the system of convict transportation ! The vegetation 
of Cooksland assumes a grandeur and magnificence almost of a 
tropical character. 

RELIGION, EDUCATION, (fec. 

The religious societies are much the same as in Great 
Britain. There is no lack of churches and chapels where they 
are required. On this subject, Dr. Lang remarks, “ The colonial 
churches are the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Roman 
Catholic. Besides these establishments there are other dis¬ 
senting congregations. By SirR. Bourke’s act, passed in 1836, 
whenever a hundred adults shall attach themselves to the minis¬ 
tration of any pastor, duly recognized and set forth by one or 
other of the colonial churches, and shall contribute a small 
amount for the erection of a church and parsonage, the govern¬ 
ment guarantee a salary of £100 per annum, and advance at 
least £300 from the public treasury to assist in erecting his 
church and parsonage; and with a view to stimulate the exer¬ 
tion of the pastor, his government salary is to be augmented 
to £150 or even £200 per annum as soon as he rallies around 
him a congregation of 200 to 500 adults. The practical opera¬ 
tion of the new system, I am happy to state, has been attended 
with the happiest results. It has infused life and vigor into^the 
shrivelled arm of Episcopacy ; it has proved as life from the 
dead to the Presbyterian community. By the Episcopalian 
laity of all classes, it has not only been acquiesced in as a 
measure of urgent necessity, on the score of justice to others, 
but received as a real measure of benefit to themselves.” In 
parts of the province settled by Scotch highlanders, there are 
preachers who use the Gaelic tongue. The Episcopal Church 
of New South Wales is superintended by the Metropolitan 
Bishop of Sydney and the Bishop of Newcastle, and the Roman 
Catholic Church by the Archbishop of Sydney. 

We find from the official report on education and crime, 
that the number of schools had increased from 167 with 9,040 


;^8 PROVINCE OF .NEW SOUTH WALES. 

scholars in 1840, to 558 with 25,082 scholars in 1849. With 
respect to crime, though the population had nearl}^ doubled 
between 1840 and 1849, the 'convictions have decreased from 
662 in 1840, to 54-3 in 1849, and those for misdemeanor from 
170 to 125. There were 8 executions in the former year, and 
only 4 in the latter. 

CONVICTS. 

The number of convicts transported to New South Wales up 
to 1836, a period of forty-eight years, was, males, 43,606 ; 
temales, 6,791; total, 50,297. In 1836 the number in the 
province amounted to 27,831. in 1850 the number had de¬ 
creased to 3,954. 

POPULATION. 

The population on the foundation of the colony in 1788, 
consisted of 608 male and 250 female convicts, and a guard of 
marines, with their wives and children, numbering 202—total, 
1,070. In 1810, the census gave 10,452, In 1821, 29,783; 
in 1836, 130,856 ; in 1846, 196,704 ; in 1849, 246,299 ; and 
close of 1852, 360,000. 

TRADE, REVENUE, ETC. 

The trade of New South Wales is rapidly growing in im- 
portance. The leading export articles are gold, wool, copper, 
iron, coal, tallow, treenails, and seal and whale oils. A great 
part of the latter is produced by a description of whale called 
the sperm whale, and is found in the South Seas only. A large 
and profitable trade in wine and brandy cannot fail to spring up 
in the province. S^me vines of fine quality, from the fruit of 
which the French manufactured claret, were presented by the 
late king of the French, Louis Philippe, to the late king of 
England, William IV., who had them transmitted to New 
South Wales, where they have been planted, and have thriven 
as vigorously as they would in the south of “ sunny France.” 
From the peaches of the province, brandy of a quality equal if 
not superior to that of France, is distilled. Silk (from the 
abundance of the mulberry), dried fruits, indigo, &c., for the 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


•39 


growth of which the province is favorable, will, doubtless, in 
time, be produced. 

The imports in 1826, amounted to £260,000; in 1844, 
£916,000; and in 1851 to £2,563,931. The exports in 1826 
were £106,600; in 1844, £1,128,100; in 1850, £2,399,600. 
The revenue in 1847 was £325,940 ; in 1849, £575,692 ; the 
expenditure £516,533. The land under cultivation in 1848 
was 133,369 acres; in 1849 it amounted to (exclusive of 
gardens and orchards,) 181,612 acres, of which 132,000 were 
in bread stuffs. The quantity of wool exported in 1849 was 
27,960,530 lbs., and of tallow 150,183 cwt. There were in 

1849, 1,127 acres of vineyard, yielding 101,063 gallons of 
wine, and 1,781 gallons of brandy. The first vine was planted 
at Camden. Coin in circulation in 1840, £397,580 ; in June, 

1850, £690,582, and paper currency, £296,002. There were 
being worked in 1852, 10 coal, 8 copper, and *2 iron mines. 
The number of mills for grain was rapidly increasing. 

There are various sources of wealth awaiting investments. 
A railroad from Sydney to Melbourne was being commenced. 
The arrival of Mr. AVallace, the talented engineer, had been 
hailed as an event. In aid of the undertaking, the provincial 
government has undertaken to convey from England 500 rail- 
road laborers at the expense of the emigration fund. From 
the Bathurst Copper Company and the Southern Copper 
Conipany’s Mines the ore has been transmitted to England for 
smelting, and pronounced equal to the Burra Burra of South 
Australia. The Fitzroy Iron Company’s Mine is at Mittagong, 
seventy miles south of Sydney, and extends over 12 acres. 
It is doubtless of volcanic formation, as three distinct mounds, 
or craters, appear, and the lava (iron ore) instead of the 
general pumice stone, flows from each mound a depth of six to 
ten feet. The yield of this mine is remarkable. When 
smelted, the ore produces steel of a superior character. 

SOCIETY. 

The state of society in New South Wales has been affected 

4 


40 ^ 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


to a considerable extent by the transportation thither of con¬ 
victs. The emancipated convicts, and their descendants, 
however well behaved, are held as a degraded or inferior class 
by the free settlers, and consequently two factions have sprung 
up in the province, and caused much disquiet in the country. 
But whatever may have been the state of society, and the dif¬ 
ferences between the free settlers and the emancipists, from the 
great emigration of free settlers now pouring in, the emanci¬ 
pists will form but a very small portion of the community, and 
it is to be hoped that the line of distinction between the two 
parties will shortly disappear. There are many hundreds of 
families in Sydney and the neighborhood, enjoying all the ele¬ 
gancies of refined life, exchanging its courtesies, and cultivating 
its amusements and pleasures; splendid equipages are seen 
rolling through its spacious streets; its public assembly rooms 
blazing with lights, and filled with “ beauty and fashion ; ” 
music parties and theatricals filling up the round of Sydney 
life. Next to Sydney, Bathurst has the highest pretensions to 
a general superiority in the character of its society. Besides 
its literary institutions, it boasts of an association called the 
“ Bathurst Hunt,” composed of the sporting gentlemen who 
reside in the district. 

We extract the following from a speech of Capt. Hoseason, 
of the British war steamer Inflexible, to show the improved 
moral condition of the people:—“ As an evidence of the effect 
produced by the abundance of food on the moi ality of a people, 
he stated that when at Sydney, in 1835, he permitted the 
people of that city to visit his ship, and one Sunday 5,000 
people came on board, a large number of whom had the curi¬ 
osity, being of the fair sex, to inspect even his private cabins. 
But although his very drawers were left unlocked, and the plate 
belonging to the vessel was accessible, nothing was stolen. 
And bow was this ? Why where beef was l^d. per lb., and a 
laborer’s wages were 4s. 6d. a day, people could not afford to 
be dishonest. In London, of course, he would not have left 


PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 


41 


his state cabins unlocked.” In fact, it is presumed, that there 
is less immorality and crime within the province of New South 
Wales, at the present time, than the other provinces, especially 
Victoria, where the amount of ‘‘ riches leading to poverty and 
treasures sure to cause wide-spread min,” have drawn within 
her precincts all the worst characters of these colonies. 

GOVERNMENT, HISTORY, &C. 

The government of New South Wales is conducted by a 
Governor, and Executive and Legislative Councils. They were 
formerly all appointed by the ministry at home. But in 1842 
the legislative council was made elective for a term of four 
years, and the cities and counties elected councils for the inter¬ 
nal management of their affairs. In 1850 anew constitution 
was granted, which gave the power of forming a federal union 
of the provinces and islands. 

The history of the province is confined within very narrow 
limits. There are but few incidents to record save those we 
noticed in our Cursory View. The removal of the settlement 
from Botany Ba}'-, which was found ineligible, to the extensive 
harbor of Port Jackson, forms the first most prominent inci¬ 
dent. The loss of some cattle shortly afterwards from the 
settlement, and their previous discovery on the “ Cow Pasture 
plains,” where they had increased considerably in numbers; 
some disputes with the natives; a little bushrangiug; the estab¬ 
lishment of a newspaper, in 1803, at Sydney, and the deposi¬ 
tion and deportation to England of Governor Bligh, the little 
Nero of the colony, form the principal items worthy of notice. 
Governor Macquarrie, the successor of Bligh, amused himself 
with raising up splendid buildings at the public expense, and it 
was during his reign the passage of the Blue Mountains was 
discovered. The abolition of the “ assignment system,” in 
1838, by depriving the settlers of their supply of convict labor, 
produced very disastrous effects upon the agricultural interests. 
So great was the panic that sheep valued at $5 were offered for 
50 cents ! The depreciation of all other property was in the 


42 


PEOVINCE OP NEW SOUTH WALES. 


same proportion: so intimately connected is the value of 
property with the supply of labor. The increase of free immi¬ 
grants, however, gradually filled up the vacuum in the labor 
market. In 1844, the school question—that mighty stumbling- 
block to those individuals whose enslaved souls, “ cribbed, cab¬ 
ined, and confined,” hav^e no faith in the power and immortality 
of ti’uth, and whose circumscribed vision will not permit them 
to see beyond the narrow limits of their own sect—was discussed 
in the new Legislature, and the old sectarian schools abolished, 
and a free school system, similar to our State schools, ordered 
to be established ; but the execution of this national and trulv 
Christian scheme, was deferred for some time, on account of 
the opposition that was 'offered it by bigots of all creeds. The 
year 1845 the minds of the colonists were occupied with a 
parliamentary struggle of as much importance to the new-born 
liberties of New South ^Yales as the great contest in England 
with Charles L, on the subject of ship money. Gov. Gipps 
claimed, by virtue of Royal prerogative, to levy what rents and 
fines he pleased for the occupation of the Crown Lands. This 
was successfully resisted by the Legislature, and Gov. Gipps 
wms recalled, and Sir Charles Fitzroy, the present Governor- 
General, appointed, when the attempt to deprive the colonists 
of their newly-fledged liberties was prudently abandoned. In 
the year 1849, a futile attempt of the Home Government to 
renew transportation by sending to Sydney the ship Hashemey, 
with convicts, was a source of great annoyance to the colonists. 
Despatches have recently been sent by the British government 
(the Aberdeen administration) to the Governors of New South 
Wales and Victoria authorizing the Legislative councils in both 

colonies to form themselves into a Parliament of an upper and 

% 

lower House, it being at the same time intimated that so soon 
as this arrangement shall have been brought into operation, the 
crown will concede to them the manao:ement of their own 
affairs, including the entire receipts from the public lands, so as 
to assimilate their position to that of Canada. 


rROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


43 


THE PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 

EXTENT. 

The province of Victoria (called by its first explorer, Sir 
Thomas Mitchell, Australia Felix, from the beautiful scenery 
tmd luxuriant appearance of the country) comprises the-extreme 
southern portion of Australia, and lies between the parallels of 
37 and 39 deg. S. lat., and the meridian of 141 deg. and 150 
deg. E. long. Its length from east to west is 550 miles, and its 
breadth from north to south 300 miles. The area is computed 
at 100,000 square miles, or rather more than twice the extent 
of the State of New York. The province is bounded on the 
north and north-east by a straight line drawn from Cape Howe 
to the nearest source of the river Murray, and thence by the 
course of that river to the eastern boundary of South Austra¬ 
lia. On the south it is separated from Van Dieman’s Land by 
Bass’ Straits. 

PHYSICAL ASPECT. 

This province throughout its whole extent is highly diversi¬ 
fied; in the Eastern section rise the Snowy Mountains, or Aus¬ 
tralian iVlps, towering 7,000 or 8,000 feet—a continuation of 
the range of the Blue Mountains of New South Wales; 
further to the south-west is the Strzclecki Range, running 
through Gippsland. The central portion of the province 
is occupied by hills of moderate elevation, being partially 
wooded, and covered with the richest herbage. To the west 
rise the Pyrenees and Grampian Mountains. The low country, 
on the north and south of the various hills and mountain 
ranges, is chiefly open, and on the south undulates towards the 
coast. Notwithstanding the mountainous nature of some 
parts of the province, Victoria contains a large proportion of 
fertile, accessible, and comparatively level land within its 


44 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


boundaries. The country is well watered, by both riv'crs and 
lakes. The Murray rises in the Australian Alps, and receives 
numerous other rivers in its course, which flow over extensive 
plains in directions parallel with its own. The coast line is, in 
some parts, deeply indented by numerous and capacious ports 
and inlets, while in others it is monotonous in the extreme—a 
long tract, called Ninety Mile Reach, on the south-east coast, 
being almost unbroken by inlet or cove. The principal port, 
and which formerly gave name to the province, is called Port 
Phillip, after Arthur Phillip, first Governor of New South 
Wales ; it is a capacious harbor, 40 miles in breadth by GO in 
length. The enti’ance is not two miles wide, and is narrowed 
by rocks off Point Nepean, and by shoals on the opposite head¬ 
land. The province is divided into 24 counties, and several 
Commissioners’ districts. 

THE GOLD REGION. 

The gold region of Victoria is of far less extent than the 
sister colony of New South Wales, but is far richer in mineral 
wealth, and is much easier of access. The number of diggers 
at present in the various gold fields of Victoria is estimated as 
liigh as 100,000 ! and the average earnings may be reckoned 
at an ounce of gold per man per week. 

The astonishing richness of the Mount Alexander district is 
evidenced in the large amounts of the auriferous mineral which 
it yields, notwithstanding the immense quantities that have 
been already drawn from it. This is, we should suppose, t%e 
richest gold digging in the known world, and is easier to be 
got at, with less labor, as the deposit is found in a bed of blueish 
clay. The whole region, extending twenty miles north to 
Bendigo Creek, is full of the treasure which has drawn, and is 
drawing, into Victoria all the worst characters of society, and 
has impregnated her population with an enormous amount of 
vice and crime: in fact, has attracted into one focus all the vil¬ 
lainy of these colonies, the pestilential effect of which is pain¬ 
fully felt by the honest and industrious portion of the commu- 


PROVINCE OP VICTORIA. 


45 


nity. Mount Alexander is seventy-five miles north-west of 
Melbourne* 

Ballarat diggings are again getting in fiivor, and their pro* 
ductiveness is being more fully developed. The gold at Balla¬ 
rat is more unequally distributed than at Mount Alexander, and 
therefore unsuccessful diggers are more numerous than at the 
latter place. But then the individual gains in some places are 
greater. The labor is more severe than at the^- Mount, as the 
gold lies deeper, and more trials have to be made before the 
deposits are struck upon. Ballarat was the first gold field dis¬ 
covered in Victoria, and is 50 miles from Geelong. The country 
around Ballarat and the neighboring mountain, Buninyong, is 
au open forest, in the midst of a magnificent agricultural district. 
There are pretty valleys on each side of the mountain clothed 
with timber, and verdant meadows spread at the bottom. 

The capabilities of the River Ovens as a very rich field, may 
now be deemed an admitted fiict. The amount brought into 
Melbourne as yet has been comparatively small, and it is known 
that large quantities have been carried overland to Sydney, and 
all reports agree in attesting the richness of the locality. The 
data for determining the value of these diggings are incom¬ 
plete, but enough has been shown to indicate the existence of 
very large quantities of the precious metal there. The labor is 
severe, owing to the superabundance of water, but the chances 
are greatly in favor of the industiious worker. 

There are many other localities in the province where gold 
has been found by explorers, and in paying quantities ; but the 
limited extent of the deposits prevents any numerous party 
from engaging upon them. 

CITIES AND principal SETTLEMENTS. 

Melbourne is the chief city of Victoria, and in 1838 was a 
settlement comprised of a few huts, 2 small wooden houses 
served for inns to accommodate the settlers who frequented the 
place, and a small wooden building, with a ship’s bell suspended 
from a tree, was used as a place of wonship for the various sects 


46 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


of religionists .then living in the colony, and two or three stores 
formed the emporiums for the sale of such articles as were re¬ 
quired by the colonists. Melbourne is situated on the Yarra- 
yarra river, which empties itself into Hobson’s Bay, in Port 
Phillip, about seven miles below the city. The water of the 
river is too shallow to allow large vessels to come up to the 
city, and they are obliged to load and unload at Williamstown, 
in Hobson’s H^y. Notwithstanding this difficulty, Melbourne 
has increased at a rate that few places can equal. In 1846, 
eight years after its settlement, it contained, (according to the 
census,) 10,945 inhabitants ; in 1851, the number had in¬ 
creased to 23,143 ; and at the close of 1852, consequent on the 
immense immigration, and its proximity to the gold diggings, 
it numbered 55,449 inhabitants. The sti’eets are wide, and 
laid out at right angles. The buildings are generally low, and 
many are built of wood, but there are some larsfe and commo¬ 
dious stores and handsome houses built of stone and brick. 
The Government House is built of a dark blue whiustone and a 
light greyish granite judiciously blended. The Court House 
and Jail have been erected at a cost of $150,000; and the 
Mechanics’ Institute, which is of stone, at $20,000. But the 
public buildings on the aggregate are small, and not in propor¬ 
tion to the present size of the city, without reckoning the in¬ 
crease it seems likely to attain. There are numerous churches 
and places of worship, but none particularly worthy of notice. 
It has a Chamber of Commerce and several literary societies. 
Melbourne is ill paved, badly lit, and without water, and alto¬ 
gether a mean-looking place, when compared with Sydney, 
which it seems likely soon to rival, in population at least. It is 
devoid of all those handsome structures which adorn the latter 
city, many of which were erected by convict labor and at the 
public expense, by money drawn from the Exchequer of Great 
Biitain and the colony, at that time when the Governors held 
despotic sway, aud particularly during the administration of that 
Prince of Architects,” Governor Macquarrie. A handsome 




PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


47 


blidge has lately been built over the Yarrayarra, at a cost of 
$70,000. In Melbourne has concentrated the great amount of 
Australian emigration, and in this respect it is the New York 
of Australia. For some months past, about 5,000 men, women 
and children, per week, have been pouring into the city, and 
when it is recollected that Melbourne, from its size and newness, 
is utterly unprepared to receive so large an accession to its 
numbers, is it to be wondered at that we hear of a large amount 
of disappointment, misery and crime ? What would be the state 
of Portland, or New Bedford, or any of our smaller ports, and 
the situation of the people, if the immigrants to this country, 
instead of landing in a large city like New York, were to be 
poured indiscriminately into one of those places, after a sea voyage 
of some 16,000 miles ? By late accounts, we find that the Pro¬ 
vincial Government has voted $40,000, and private individuals 
have subscribed $20,000, to provide temporary shelter for 
newly-arrived immigrants. The Methodist connection have 
erected temporary buildings for members of their own com¬ 
munion, and wooden cottages are springing up in all directions. 
Yet, notwithstanding all these efforts, great privation is ex¬ 
perienced. The over-crowding of the city, and the neglect of 
sanitary regulations, have been signally disastrous in a great 
many cases. The value of the city property is high, and rents 
are enormous. It is estimated that 10,000 persons are now 
living in tents which they had brought with them, and have 
located themselves on the south side of the city, on a lot of 
land given for that purpose by the City Corporation. The 
following description of the tented suburb we have in a fresh 
arrival:—“ The tents of new-comers have indeed been pitched 
in such multitudes, on a piece of ground appropriated to this 
purpose, on the south of the Yarrayarra, that a complete can¬ 
vass town has arisen there. The tents are arranged in regular 
streets and squares, and the Mayfair (London) lounger may find 
amongst them promenades which will recall his old haunts to 
him by name, if in no other respect. At the corner of Regent 


48 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


street a round tent, surmounted by a red flag*, shows us where 
to turn off into Piccadilly 5 nor are Oxford street and the 
Strand without their canvass representatives. Some of the tents 
are poor-looking enough, but others, ornamented with green 
and gold arabesques at the ridge, and set off with jaunty flags, 
indicate that their proprietors have started gold digging, as 
though it were a highly remunerative pastime, resembling a 
cricket match. One row of tents, called Himalaya-terrace, and 
jumbled up between Oxford street and Regent street, with very 
little regard to topographical propriety, has derived its name 
from a monstrous erection that seems to have been conceived 
by some imaginative tentmaker in a fit of insanity. Rising on 
a small round base, it towers up like Dawalagri, and though 
calculated to accommodate any number of persons ‘ on end ’ 
one over another, there appears to be no room for reposing 
horizontally except by coiling round the central mast. The 
observant spectator of the canvass city, indeed, is much struck 
by the diversely shaped and size tents which meet his view, and 
he is puzzled to imagine what object either maker or importer, 
could have contemplated when devising such extraordinary 
structures. Such as they are, however, some thousands of men, 
women and children find their ‘local habitation ’ in them at 
present, nor does there for the most part seem any disposition 
among the hardly-tried new chums to magnify difficulties, or to 
be readily turned from their intended course.” 

Melbourne is 600 miles S. W. of Sydney, and 500 miles 
S. E. of Adelaide. It is the see of an Episcopal Bishop. 

Gold is found in small quantities in the immediate vicinity 
of Melbourne, and even in its streets, and lead ore, containing a 
large admixture of silver, is found eleven miles East of the 
city. 

There are several flourishing villages in the neighborhood of 
Melbourne, of which the principal are Richmond, Colling wood, 
Abbotsford and Brighton. The latter village is ten miles from 
Melbourne, on Port Phillip, and is a favorite resort of the 




rROVINCE OE VICTORIA. 


49 


citizens of Melbourne in the summer months, who go there to 
enjoy the refreshing breezes of the sea. 

Geelong is the second place in the province. It is 45 miles 
S. W. of Melbourne, contains 8,000 inhabitants, and is rapidly 
increasing. It has numerous public buildings, literary societies, 
several churches, court-house and jail. The town stands high 
on the margin of a fine open bay, on the west side of Port 
Philip, and has a splendid back country, beautifully diversified, 
clothed with park-like timber, and well vvatered. This town is 
affected in a similar manner to Melbourne, being overrun by 
immigrants. Large quantities of wheat are grown on the Bar- 
rabool hills,adjoining Geelong, the yield being about 50 imperial 
bushels to the acre ; and there are numerous vineyards in the 
vicinity. 

Portland, 220 miles S. W. of Melbourne, is a flourishing 
sea port, on Portland Bay. Has numerous churches, court 
house, &c. The bay is rather exposed to a heavy swell during 
four months of the year, which renders landing rather dan¬ 
gerous ; but during the remaining eight months the wind blows 
off the land, when it is perfectly safe. The interior exhibits one 
of the richest and most desirable countries in the world, fit 
either for grazing or the plough. 

Belfast, 180 miles S. W. of Melbourne, is likewise growing 
considerably. It is a maritime town on Port Fairy. The sur¬ 
rounding country has fine sheep and cattle runs, extending far 
away into the interior, and along the coast to Warmambool is 
extremely fine for agricultural purposes. 

Western/port is a considerable arm of the sea, lying S. E. of 
Port Philip, and from 40 to 60 miles S. E. of Melbourne. Coal 
is found in considerable quantities around the port, and for 
ten miles on the Bourne river, which empties itself into the port, 
and reappears six miles along the coast at Cape Patterson, where 
the coal rises to the surface, so thai within 100 miles of Mel¬ 
bourne there exists coal measures, extending almost uninterup- 
tedly along the coast. 


50 


PROVINCE OP VICTORIA. 


Alberto 7 i, 135 S.E. E. of Melbourne, on the Albert river, is 
at present a small village. It is situated in that portion of the 
province called Gippsland, which, from the beauty of its sceneiy, 
is called the Switzerland of Australia. This will be a desirable 
district when the valleys shall have become settled by an indus¬ 
trious agricultural population, and its resources get fully de¬ 
veloped. At present the population is small. 

, RIDES TO MOUNT ALEXANDER. 

For the edification of our I’eaders, we here insert two letters, 
descriptive of Rides from Melbourne to the gold diggings at 
Mount Alexander. We give them to show what different stories 
two individuals can tell of the same place, about the same time 
—the light and dark sides of the picture The first is from a 
young man residing in Melbourne, and the second is from the 
correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald. The last, 
coming as it does from the advocate of a rival province, (New 
South Wales,) we may fairly put down as being a little exag¬ 
gerated—particularly that portion which relates the bullock 
driver’s feast in the Black Forest. This puts Bruce’s Abys¬ 
sinian Feast completely in the shade. 

First, then, let us read what our Melbourne friend has written : 

“ My ride to the diggings at Mount Alexander was a very 
pleasant one ; the country was beautifully green and verdant; 
and although there were many bad tracts, the creeks were 
passable, and the muddy places not too frequent. After leaving 
the city, you go for about two miles through a gentle, undu¬ 
lating, park-like country, called the Town Reserve, until you 
cross a large creek at the village of Flemingtown, where for 
about three miles you ride through an enclosed country, dotted 
with villages and farm houses. Five miles from the city the 
roads diverge, the left-hand track goes through an enclosed 
country for about eight miles, a considerable portion of which 
is under cultivation, and crosses the Saltwater River by a bridge 
at the village of Keilor. The river flows at the bottom of a 
deep valley, and is about 200 feet below the level of the 


PROVINCE OP VICTORIA. 


51 


plains. After leaving the enclosed country, you ride for about 
two miles without coming near any sign of cultivation, and with 
hardly a tree a much greater distance. A village, sprung up since 
the diggings, is then passed, containing a public house, an eating 
shop and a police station. Hence to Gisborne village is about 
15 miles, five miles over the plains, and the remainder through 
a lightly timbered country, full of valleys and creeks, and blessed 
with a black rich soil. This is the left hand road. That on 
the right crosses the Saltwater River twice, under the names of 
the Deep Creek and Johnson’s Creek. There are two public 
houses on this road, whose general aspect is much the same as 
the other. Gisborne is a rising place, with two inns, both 
horrible places now a-days, although as good as can be expected 
from the character of some of the frequenters. There are also 
some cottages, two stores, a butcher’s, a blacksmith’s, and a 
police station. The soil is magnificent, though wet, and the 
scenery beautiful. As to the roads and creeks, they ^are here 
impassable. At this place the Black Forest commences, and 
the road for over a distance of 12 miles is over low ranges 
densely timbered. Mount Macedon, covered with thick timber 
to the summit, looking remarkably lowering and gloomy, peep¬ 
ing ever and anon through a vista in the forest, the landscape 
reminds you of the days of Robin Flood, and there is just 
enough of danger to make it popular. Several deeds of 
violence have been committed here, but since the establishment 
of the mounted patrol, and the erection of a police barrack, 
these events have decreased in number and atrocity. At the 
end "of the forest is Five Mile Creek, the head of the Cam- 
paspe, with a rising village, called Wood End, containing two 
inns. After crossing the creek, if you can, and going through 
a forest containing five miles of splendid land, you reach Carls- 
rhue, the present head-quarters of the gold mounted police. 
Three miles further on, following the valley of the Campaspe, 
Kyneton is reached. There must be near 2,000 persons living 
here, a great number of diggers having their wives and chil- 

5 


52 


PROVINCE OP VICTORIA. 


dren resident at this place. There are four public houses and 
a spacious hotel; a police magistrate and a large police station, 
with a hospital, church, schools, and all other essentials of a 
town. While staying at this hotel, I saw the escort go by with 
" about 00,000 ounces, guarded by ten troopers, two drivers and 
a lieutenant in charge. Five miles from Kyneton, over lightly 
timbered plains, is the Colyban river, which you cross by a 
bridge. There is another new township called Malmesbury, 
where stores, public houses, &c., are springing up with mush¬ 
room-like rapidity, despite the high price of labor. From 
Malmesbury the appearance of the country changes, bearing 
traces of a volcanic origin, and to the left of the road is a 
mountainous range. Five miles from Colyban is another 
creek, and hilly ranges covered with quartz are then entered 
upon. Four miles off is w'hat is called the SawjDit Gulley. 
Here the roads to the different diggings diverge ; one crosses 
the side of the mountain (Mount Alexander) to Bendigo, the 
left hand to Triars, and the centre to Forest Creek. At Saw- 
pit Gulley is another police station.” 

We now give the “yarn” about the ride of the Sydney 
Morning Heraldh correspondent. It will no doubt be highly 
interesting to the lovers of robbery and romance. 

“ I will now describe, with consistent brevity, the road 
between the city and one of her gold fields, viz.. Mount Alex¬ 
ander. We shall scarcely have left the city ere we find that 
extortion continues to increase. Very ordinary colonial ale is 
sold in the suburbs as English, for the modest price of 9d. per 
glass. Cold and warm ‘ nobblers ’ vary from 9d. to Is. each, 
depending chiefly on the state of temper of the good hostesses 
on the road. Notwithstanding that the inn keepers en route 
to the diggings are mostly making rapid fortunes, there is but 
little civility to be met with from them, while the countenances 
of their wives wear an aspect of sourness. Having made the 
first ten miles we bring up at the Lady of the Lake public 
house, a fair specimen of what is to bo expected as we proceed. 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


53 


Tho outside of the house is quite as repulsive in appearance as 
the inside. About half a dozen small and dirty rooms, admir¬ 
ably invented for making the guests uncomfortable. But the 
embryo digger is glad to hear that he can be accommodated 
for the night—that he can sleep securely in a room with five 
or six strangers, not of the choicest exterior, in beds and bed¬ 
clothes that indicate a scarcity of soap and water, and all for 
three shillings—that he is expected to ‘ dub up ’ the very 
moment he has bolted the meal—that if his digestion is good 
he is not restricted in quantity, in respect to salt junk and 
damper, with as much tea (?) as he finds necessary. Kormust 
we forget that the landlord in the most obliging manner re¬ 
quests that the beds may be paid for before they are occupied, 
some of the guests having been troubled in the mornings with 
an absence of memory strongly indicative of the times. For 
the small sum of 30s. your horse can be stabled during the 
night; he is safe in the morning, unless some enterprizing 
bushranger should take a fancy to him. The next halt is at the 
‘ Bush Inn,’ previous to arriving at which, for some four or 
five miles, we shall pass through a road as bad as possible. In 
wet weather it is a complete sluice. Drays, carts, and horses, 
stuck here and there, tell what a struggle we have to make in 
order to move along. In bad weather a knot an hour is good 
work. But we are at the Bush Inn at length, and have ac¬ 
complished half the distance to the Mount, and in the same 
ratio we hope to find our troubles past. Alas ! it is not so. 
Let us take a night’s rest and gird ourselves well for the fol¬ 
lowing day ; there is need of it! First, of the inn itself, it is 
knocked up in a hurry, and intended to accommodate the 
public, and the landlord is as civil as any man is expected to be 
who has made £30,000 in less than twelv^e months. A regu¬ 
lar cordon of bushrangers locate themselves in the neighbor¬ 
hood, who make constant visits to the inn in various disguises, 
in order to feel their way. It cannot be a man of ordinary 
feelings who could really slee'p a night in this place,—what 


54 _ 


PROVIXCE OF VICTORIA. 


with the noises from the drunken men, the fear of losing one’s 
horse, and pardon me if I allude to personal fears we entertain 
in this place. History tells of the exploits of the famous 
English Turpin and his mare Black Bess. Those who have 
inherited this highwayman’s genius in this colony, have perpe¬ 
trated deeds of which Turpin would have been proud. I cannot 
do more than make one or two passing allusions to some of the 
doings of these gentlemen. 

“ Robbing drays and huts goes for nothing, stealing horses the 
same; but fancy stopping women, and politely requesting them 
to take off their rings ! Or let us laugh at the idea, if we dare 
laugh at crime, at stern justices of the peace being deprived of 
their boots! In one of these cases, the magistrate appealed to 
the bandit’s feeling,—‘ I am liable to cold, and, if deprived of 
my boots, this may be the death of me; besides the ground is 
wet, I cannot take them off.’ ‘ Never mind, sir,’ says the 
implacable robber, placing his hat on the wet ground, ‘put 
your feet in here.’ Fortunately the boots did not fit. In 
another case a worshipful was robbed, stripped of everything, 
tied to a tree, and by way of consolation, a pipe full of tobacco 
and lighted was placed in his mouth. 

“Thesescenes are daily and nightly occurring in the neighbor¬ 
hood of the Bush Inn. Robberies and murders are so common 
that they are now received and listened to as though they 
w^ere ‘matters of course,’ things inseparable from a journey to 
Mount Alexander. This inn being on the very verge of the 
famous Black Forest, is necessarily exposed to attacks. It may 
or may not be conducted properly; on that subject I will not 
pass an opinion; but one thing strikes me as certain, that the 
Government are much to blame for not establishing a stronger 
police force on this spot, were it only in a measure to satisfy the 
public that something was done for its protection. 

“ This ‘ Black Forest,’ this den of thieves and murderers, is 
about twelve miles in length, and the road, if road it can be 
called, passes through near the centre. Its appearance mo.re 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


55 


resembles the road of retreat of an army than anything else. 
There are literally hundreds of drays and other vehicles stuck in 
it, for the mud is generally over the wheels. The stench of 
dead horses and bullocks is truly shocking. Putting on one 
side the chance of being robbed, a journey through the forest 
is by no means free from danger ; to be smothered in mud is 
no enviable death. In every part of the place we meet with 
men in search of stray bullocks and horses; and as a slight 
example of the brutal, we may say disgusting, practices hourly 
carried on in this Pandemonium, some bullock drivers were 
actually cutting steaks from one of the dead bullocks^ and de¬ 
vouring them uncooked ivhile I passed them. A number of 
drays and carriages are totally abandoned, provisions and all; 
in other cases the drays are partly relieved of their load ; while 
in many instances, to my knowledge, the journey has occupied 
four months! 

“ Having escaped from the dangers of the Black Forest, as 
well as the many deep creeks, the traveller will not regret 
being in the neighborhood of the township of Kyneton; he 
will then be within about twenty miles of Mount Alexander. 
But this township—what a place ! We must imagine several 
hundred houses dropped from the clouds, or any other place, 
into a mud-'bank about a mile in length—there is no trace of 
the streets—There are two or three hotels here, as well ag 
about an equal number of lodging houses. The traveller and 
- his horse may be sheltered for one night at the cost of fifty 
shillings. The sooner he turns his back on the place the 
better; it is the first stage from the diggings, and numbers of 
the highwaymen prowl about here in order to have the first 
cut at the returning digger. The night before I passed thro’ 
Kyneton a murder had taken place at one of the hotels. Rob¬ 
beries are so common that unless accompanied with loss of life 
they are but little noticed. The only question generally asked 
is, the amount of ‘ swagg ’ lost on the occasion. The rest of 
the journey to the nearest point of Mount x\lexander diggings 


56 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


may be reached in one day. The monotony of the road wili 
be occasionally relieved by a swim across some of the numerous 
deep rivers, including the Columbine and the Campaspie. 
Once on the road we can never again miss it; for the satisfac¬ 
tion of those who are nervous on this head, it will be necessary 
to state that the roads vary in breadth from half a mile to 
three or four miles.” 

THE CITY OF GOLD AND CANVASS. 

Having given our readers two representations of the ride to 
Mount Alexander, we here present them with a description of 
the city built there, such as it "was a few months ago. In a few 
more months it will, perhaps, be the city of gold and iion, in¬ 
stead of gold and canvass, for already are numerous galvanized 
iron churches, schools, hotels, stores, houses, cottages, &c., on 
their way from England, to take the place of the canvass tents. 
At one establishment alone, the Clift House Works, at Bristol, 
a complete city of iron has been manufactured, and is partly 
on its w'ay to Melbourne, to shelter the hordes of immigrants 
in the land of gold. The following communication is from one 
who tried his fortune at the Mount Alexander mines i 

“ Descending from the eminence on which I had been stand¬ 
ing, and taking the main road through the valley, one becomes 
more and more confident that he is entering some vast and 
populous city. Men are moving backwards and forwards, some 
returning from their labor, and laden with cumbrous utensils 
needful for carrying on their work ; others proceeding to their 
toil—some bargaining, others lounging about, w'ell satisfied 
w’ith what they have made during the day. Meanwhile, the 
noise of the hammer, the anvil and the bellows are heard, be¬ 
traying the unceasing toil of artificers, and that other modes of 
gold-finding exist besides that of mining the earth.' Not a 
few females, too, enliven the scene, dressed as bonnily and 
looking as busily as housewives in Melbourne or Sydney do 
when engaged in the important task of purveying for the 
family. With hardly an exception, they all appeared of the 




PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


57 


- better class of society, and are indeed a great acquisition to 
the mining population, tending to banish roughness and bru- 
tality, and materially conducing to the comfort of those with 
whom they are connected. Nor are children w'anting—groups 
may be seen here and there, engaged in the customary childish 
games, and utterly regardless of the scene around them. The 
querulous cry of infancy, too, heard through the flimsy tent 
covers, bears testimony to the fact of these sweet innocents 
still existing to the annoyance of bachelors. Stores, too, of 
every form and shape, meet your eye, from the humble slab 
and canvass to the more dignified deal board tenement.” 

RELIGION, EDUCATION, ETC. 

The laws regarding religion and education are the same in 
V’ictoria as in New South Wales. Unlike the latter Colony, 
the number of houses of worship is very limited, wdien com¬ 
pared with the population. Schools and scholars in the prO'Vince 
are increasing though not in a ratio with population. The num¬ 
ber of children attending school, in 1846, was over five 
thousand. 

POPULATION. 

The population of the province, by the census taken in 1836, 
numbered only 224 persons; in 1841, 11,738; in 1846, 
32,895; in 1851,114,886; at the close of 1852,220,000; 
and at the present time it cannot be less than 300,000. 

TRADE, REVENUE, ETC. 

The trade of Victoria is increasing prodigiously. The 
export articles are nearly the same as the sister province, viz., 
gold, wool, oil, tallow, hides, salt beef, cattle and sheep. The 
product of gold is now estimated to equal £15,000,000 ster¬ 
ling, or nearly $75,000,000 per annum. The export of wool, 
which in 1837 amounted to 175,081 lbs., had increased in 1849 
to 12,697,440 lbs. The imports in 1837 amounted to £106,- 
939, and the exports to £12,180 ; in 1847, imports, £437,- 
696, exports, £688,511 ; imports, 1851, £1,056,000, exports, 
£1,423,000. Up to September, 1851, no gold had been ex- 


58 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


ported. The exports in 1852 (including gold) were estimated 
at about seventy millions of dollars ! 

The live stock, which in 1843 numbered 4,065 horses, 100,- 
192 horned cattle, 1,140,433 sheep and 3,041 swine, had in¬ 
creased in 1852 to 40,116 horses, '798,358 horned cattle, 
8,520,019 sheep and 15,940 swine. The cultivation of the grape 
has been commenced and promises well. There were uuder 
crop in 1847, 78 acres; in 1848, 101 acres; wine made, 3,900 
gallons, and brandy 80 gallons. Land in cultivation in 1850, 
51,536 acres. Amount of cash in circulation in 1851, (before 
the gold discoveries,) coin £276,243 ; paper money, £141,- 
536. The little manufacturing that had been introduced into 
the province was entirely suspended in 1851, through the gold 
discoveries. There are several whaling stations around Portland 
Bay and the south-west coast. 

The following items will show the rapid increase of the 
revenue: Customs and postage, last quarter, 1850, £31,330 ; 
last quarter, 1851, £42,041 ; first quarter, 1852, £75,272. 
Land sales, licenses, <fec., last quarter, 1850, £37,008; last 
quarter, 1851, £102,307 ; first quarter, 1852, £156,827 ; 
third quarter, 1852, £388,447. Total revenue, first quarter, 
1851, £49,118; second quarter, 1851, £161,167; third 
quarter, 1851, £183,194; first qijarter, 1852, £232,099; 
second quarter, £285,086 ; third quarter, £462,340. Land 
sales last six months, 1851, £98,000 ; land sales three months 
ending September, 1852, £267,754. 

The estimates for 1853, as laid before the Legislature :—The 
ways and means are set down at £1,733,600 ; the expenditure 
at £1,749,042. Of this latter sum not less than £412,715 are 
for police establishments ; £94,449 for penal establishments, 
the administration of justice, £42,280, military, £67,489— 
making a grand total of £616,933 to be spent in protecting 
life and property, and repressing crime ! 

A company has, been formed for the purpose of constructing 
a Pvailroad from AVilliamstown (Hobson’s Bay,) to Melbourne, 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


59 


thence to Mount Alexander and the River Murray, via Bendigo 
and the northern gold fields, with an extension line to Geelong. 
Distance from AVilliamstown to Melbourne, 7 miles; from 
Melbourne to Mount Alexander, 76 miles ; the latter place to 
Bendigo, 18 miles, and from Bendigo to the River Murray, 
46 miles—total, 147 miles. A bill has been introduced into 
the Legislature for the purpose of effecting the object of the 
Company. It is intended, in connection with the railroad, to 
run steamboats on the Murray, and thus form a direct com¬ 
munication with South Australia. A bill has also been intro¬ 
duced into the Legislature for the establishment of another 
Bank in Melbourne, to be called “ The Bank of Victoria,” with 
a capital of $5,000,000. 

SOCIETY. 

This colony was settled by an enterprising, steady and indus¬ 
trious population, comprised of persons chiefly engaged in pas¬ 
toral and agricultural pursuits, who, by dint of their own 
exertions, enjoyed that “ happy medium ” of existence, being 
far removed from penury and want on the one hand, and su¬ 
perfluous wealth on the other. Unlike their fellow-settlers in 
New South Wales, they were not afflicted with the evils of 
convict transportation, and consequently received none of the 
benefits arising from that system. 

The operative farming classes, shepherds, herdsmen and 
bushmen generally, present a rough and sturdy exterior, and 
exhibit a manliness of deportment, a feeling of democratic 
equality, not to be found among their fellows in the most 
favored localities of the British Isles. They have none of that 
loutishness which marks the English farm laborer, or the sul¬ 
lenness of the Scotch agricultural servant, and certainly none of 
that whining servility so common among the “ finest pisintry 
in the world ! ” 

The farmers and squatters, the yeomanry of the province, 
are a vigorous and independent body of men, well-proportioned, 
seldom showing any appearance of paunch, or inclination to 


60 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA. 


obesity. Whatever bad effects the “accursed appetite for 
gold ” may have had on some portions of the community, 
they still appear to retain their good qualities. • That excellent 
man, author, and member of the Society of Friends, William 
Howitt, who is now residing in Victoria, and who undertook a 
journey last December to the Ovens River Diggings, 250 miles 
north-east of Melbourne, thus writes of the farmers and squat¬ 
ters : “ The greatest thing that can be said of this country is, 
that the better classes are exceedingly kind and hospitable, and 
considering their isolated lives, not deficient in general informa¬ 
tion. I am sure I shall always have occasion to remember the 
kindness of the inhabitants of the bush. Every house, if we 
had desired it, would have opened itself to us a home, and but 
for bush kindness I should, perhaps, not be writing this 
letter.” 

A squatter, who was once a “ limb of the law ” in London, 
thus speaks of himself: “Eleven years ago I commenced 
business as a squatter, with 4,000 sheep, for which I gave 
£4,000, including the ‘ right of the run,’ and a few horses 
and bullocks with a dray. This season I shall shear 30,000 
sheep, and I have a thousand head of cattle, and a hundred 
horses, besides the improvements on the stations, as the reward 
of my exertion, and the natural increase of stock since that 
time. And if all things go well this year, I shall realize from 
£1,200 to £1,500 (16,000 to 17,000,) clear profit from my 
wool and tallow. So much for the result. The manner I set to 
work at the beginning was to reside for a twelvemonth prior to 
my purchasing stock, upon a station, where I gave my services 
free, to obtain a practical knowledge of the det^s of every em¬ 
ployment necessary on a sheep farm, by acting in the capacity 
of hut keeper, shepherd, shearer, and overseer. In England I 
had been educated in, and practised the legal profession, and 
I never supposed that I should have taken so kindly to this 
rude occupation ; but I am thankful now that I threw np the 
quil and the desk for the sheep-shears and the wool-press,. 


PROVINCE OF VICTORIA* 


61 


for the life of a squatter has made a better man of me, both 
in mind and body. Instead of being a pale and slender ghost, 
flitting about the dingy courts of law, earning nothing more 
than a living for myself and family, here I am, a stout, able- 
bodied man, browned by the genial exposure to our glorious 
climate, and able to ride round my run, a distance of fifty 
miles, in six hours, while I am monarch of all I survey.” 

GOVERNMENT, HISTORY, ETC. 

The Government of this province is conducted by a Lieut.- 
Governor, and Executive and Legislative Councils, whose ap¬ 
pointment and election are similar to the same bodies in New 
South Wales. The cities and counties also elect Councils for 
their own internal management. 

In the year 1803, Captain Flinders surveyed the coast, and 
claimed the country for Great Britain ; and the same year an 
attempt was made (under order of Gov. King, of New South 
Wales,) by Colonel Collins, with a party of convicts, to form a 
settlement at Westernport, which failed, from the badness of 
the location and the scarcity of fresh water. This failure led 
to the settlement on the Derwent River, in Van Diemen’s 
Land; and it is not a little singular that the first settlers 
in the renewed effort to colonize this province were from that 
island. In 1835, Mr. Batman, a squatter in Van Dieman’s 
Land, crossed Bass’s Straits to Port Phillip, where he found rich 
pasturage, and the year following, he, with a few others, settled 
near the entrance of the Yarrayarra River into Port Phillip, 
close to where now stands the city of Melbourne. The same 
year. Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor-General of New South 
Wales, explored the country from the Snowy Mountains on the 
East, and Murray River on the North, to the Glenelg River on 
the West, close to the boundary line of South Australia. He 
followed the course of the Glenelg, reached the ocean at Port¬ 
land Bay, where he found, much to his surprise, a whaling 
station, belonging to the Messrs. Henty. He afterwards turned 
to the north-east, to the centre of the province. He ascended 


PROVINCE OS' victoria. 


to the summit of Mount Macedon, where he passed the night in 
a storm of rain, without shelter. In the morning, the weather 
cleared up, and the sun shone forth with a deep refulgent 
splendor. He beheld on the south the lake-like and placid 
waters of Port Phillip bay; on the north, looming in the 
distance, the lofty peak of the gold-bound Mount Alexander; 
on the west, the towering Buninyong, the auriferous Ballarat, 
and the volcanic (now vine-clad) hills of Barrabool. And he 
descanted in glowing terms, in his record of the event, on the 
wide spread park-like plains, the lofty and forest clad hills and 
mountains of his “ Australia Felix.” 

The flockmasters of Van Diemen’s Land and New South 
Wales, taking advantage of the Squatting Act, which allowed 
them to occupy suitable land for pastoral purposes beyond the 
limits of sale and location, on payment of an annual fee of 
fifty dollars, soon converted this empire of solitude into a vast 
sheep and cattle farm. The first sale of town lots in Melbourne 
took place in 1837. 

On the 1st of July, 1851, the Port Phillip District, by the 
desire of the inhabitants, was separated from New' South 
Wales, and erected into the province of Victoria, with an Exe¬ 
cutive and Legislature of its own. The gold discovery in this 
province took place in the August following. 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 


63 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRA.LIA. 

EXTENT. 

This section of Australia was created a British Province by 
an Act of the Imperial Parliament, (passed in the session of 
1834,) which fixed its limits between the 26th deg. of South 
latitude and the sea coast, and 132 and 141 deg.. East long., 
of Greenwich. All the islands near the coast are included 
within its boundaries. The coast line extends from a short 
distance west of Cape Adieu, and near the head of the great 
Australian Bight, at its western extremity, to a little beyond 
Cape Northumberland on the east, where it meets the boun¬ 
dary line of Victoria. It is 850 miles from North to South, 
and 520 miles from East to West. The area is computed to 
be 300,000 square miles. The settled portion of the province 
does not extend further north than the 32d deg., of latitude, is 
confined within the east side of Spencer’s Gulf, and the boun¬ 
dary line of Victoria, excepting the settlement at Port Lincoln, 
on the west side of Spencer’s Gulf and the settlements on 
Kangaroo Island. Nine counties only are at present formed. 
The J^vestern and northera sections of the province are little 
known. 

PHYSICAL ASPECT. 

The great distinguishing features of South Australia are the 
two great Gulfs of Spencer and St. Vincent, which penetrate 
near the centre of the coast line. Spencer’s Gulf extends into 
the interior for upwards of two hundred miles. St. Vincent 
Gulf'is much smaller, and is without either shoal or island. 
It is defended from the Southern Ocean by Kangaroo Island 
at its southern extremity. The coast to the westward of 
Spencer’s Gulf is generally flat and uninteresting, and consists 
of rocky bays and sandy beaches. To the south-east of St. 

6 


64 


PROVINCE OE SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 


Vincent Gulf the country presents few distinctive elevations—■ 
Mounts Gambier and Schank, two volcanic cones, are the prin¬ 
cipal. To the north and north-east of St. Vincent Gulf the 
country is marked by two divisions, the one mountainous, the 
other level and but slightly elevated above the sea. The moun¬ 
tain range runs north and south ; the greatest elevation does 
not exceed 3,500 feet. The southern extremity of the settled 
portion of the colony consists of hilly ridges, with extensive 
and fertile valleys. The principal ridges are Mounts Lofty, 
Barker, and Wakefield. The first runs from north-west to 
south-west, and attains the greatest height of 2,500 feet, about 
twelve miles east of Adelaide ; it then declines towards the 
coast, where low cliffs terminate the range. The Barker ridge 
is parallel to the Lofty ridge, and forms a table land, (6 to 10 
miles wide, 800 to 1,600 feet above the sea,) which divides the 
waters that flow into Gulf St. Vincent from those which flow 
into Lake Alexandrina and the Murray River. The Wakefield 
may be considered a disruption from the south-west extremity 
of the Barker ridge. 

Stretching away to the north, and within a short distance of 
the head of Spencer’s Gulf, and thence to the east and south, 
is Lake Torrens. It is in the shape of a sickle, and its water is 
salt. With the exception of the Murray and a few others, the 
numerous rivers are merely chains of ponds in the height of 
summer. 

Of the soil in the settled portions of the province, there is 
little that can be called barren. The principal portion is used 
for pastoral purposes, and the rich soil of the valleys, and the 
alluvial flats bordering on the Murray and the various lakes and 
lagoons connected with it, yield abundant crops of grain, of the 
finest quality. The alluvion is generally composed of soil, nine 
inches to a foot in depth, on a substratum of coarse calcarious 
rock, and gives evidence of having been at no very remote 
period covered by the sea, every stone picked up being part of 
the rock, and exhibiting a congeries of small shells. Over the 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 


65 


hills and between the mountains and the mouth of the Murray 
the soil and vegetation are very rich. 

THE COPPER AND GOLD REGIONS. 

The Copper region at present known extends from the Nar- 
rien Mountains in the north to the extreme south point of Cape 
Jervis, being about 200 miles N. and S. by 80- miles E, and W. 
The principal mines are the Burra Burra, about 100 miles 
N. N. E. of Adelaide. These were started in 1845, by a few 
merchants and traders of Adelaide, with a capital of $60,000. 
In five years, by these slender means, the company raised 
56,000 tons of copper, the value of which was $3,600,000. 
The metal “ crops out ” of the surface in such quantities that 
hundreds of tons may be removed without sinking a shaft; it 
resembles quarrying in metal rather than mining. In one 
place, where a shaft has been sunk, it seems like working in a 
bed of solid copper. The other principal mines are the Ka- 
punda, Montacute, Rapid Bay, Mount Barker, Wakefield, 
Glen Osmond and Greenock. Nearly all the ore hitherto 
raised has been sent to England for the purpose of smelting, 
but the vast coal fields when worked will enable the Australians 
to smelt their own copper. 

The gold diggings at present discovered are situate at 
Echunga, on the Onkaparinga River. Their yield is just about 
sufficient to keep those colonists within the province who 
would rather be doing anything than steady work. The num¬ 
ber working at the diggings is somewhere about 400 persons. 

PRINCIPAL CITY AND SETTLEMENTS. 

Adelaide, the Capital of the province, is about six miles 
from the east coast of St. Vincent’s Gulf and is divided by the 
Torrens river into two unequal parts. The situation is beauti¬ 
ful, and the city is surrounded by a park about 500 yards 
wide. The streets are spacious and laid out at right angles, 
and varied by six squares and other pieces of land laid out for 
ornamental purposes. The buildings both public and private, 
are substantial and elegant. It has numerous churches and 


66 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 


various meeting-houses for the various Christian sects. Its 
Banks, Academies, Schools, and Scientific and Literary Institu¬ 
tions, all bear testimony to the superior cha*'acter of its society, 
and of the enterprize of its citizens. We need no further 
proof than this, that in 1851, there were, in this city of 16,000 
inhabitants, twelve printing establishments, from which were 
issued 13 newspapers—11 in English and two in the German 
languages. Two were daily, 4 semi-weekly, one tri-weekly, 
and 6 weekly. The panic reduced the number to 6 English 
papers—1 daily, 2 semi-weekly, 1 tri-weekly, and 2 weekly. 
The cause assigned was the emigration of compositors and 
subscribers to the diggings in Victoria. Adelaide is 500 miles 
N. W. of Melbourne, 850 in a direct line S. W. W. of Sydney, 
and 1,450 E. of Perth, in West Australia. It is the see of an 
Episcopal Bishop. 

jPort Adelaide is 8 miles from the city ; it is a secure though 
barred harbor. It is proposed to connect the city and port by 
a railroad. 

Glenelg is a village on Holdfast Bay, about the same dis¬ 
tance from Adelaide as Port Adelaide. Large vessels unload 
in the Bay, and their cargoes are sent from hence to the city. 

The villages are small and scattered. The principal are 
Wellington on the Murray, Mylanga on Lake Alexandrina, Ka- . 
puuda, Goolwa, Noarlunga and Macclesfield. The principal 
farming districts are Mount Barker, the country north of it, 
and the alluvial flats bordering the Murray and the various 
lakes and rivers. 

There is a flourishing settlement at Port Lincoln, on the west 
side of Spencer’s Gulf, with a village, having its weekly paper. 
A copper mine exists in the neighborhood. 

Kangaroo Island is situate on the south and south-west of 
St. Vincent Gulf, is about 100 miles from east to west, and 40 
from north to south, where broadest. It is separated from 
Cape Jervis by Backstairs passage, a strait about seven miles 
wide. Kingscote is the only village on the island and is distant 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 


67 


from Adelaide 96 miles S. W. There are numerous sealing and 
fishing establishments on its coasts, and coal is found in abun¬ 
dance in the interior. 

RELIGION AND EDUCATION. 

The various religious societies previous to 1852 received aid 
from the colonial treasury. By a resolution of the Legislature 
passed that year, it was enacted, that no more money should 
be paid out of the revenue of the colony for the purposes of 
religious instruction, and that every church should be left to the 
voluntary support of its own members. Bishop Stowe, of Ad¬ 
elaide, ill his last pastoral charge to the Episcopalian clergy of 
the diocese of South Australia, congratulates them on the large 
amount of voluntary support the church had received during 
the past year (notwithstanding the derangement in the province 
occasioned by the gold panic), as far exceeding the sums for¬ 
merly voted by the Legislature to the purposes of their church. 

The schools are on the free school plan; they are well pro¬ 
vided for, and are very numerously attended. 

POPULATION. 

In August, 1839, the population of the province was 8,500; 
in 1845, 22,390; 1847, 31,153; 1849, 56,540; and 1852, 
101,307. 

TRADE, REVENUE, ETC. 

This province is rising rapidly in commercial affairs. Its ex¬ 
ports are gold, copper, lead, iron, wool, tallow, grain of all kinds 
and agricultural produce. The exports of colonial produce in 
1840 was £15,660; 1845, 131,800; 1849, £446,643; total 
exports, 1849, £485,922; total imports, 1849, £471,526. 
Land in cultivation, 1840, 2,503 acres ; 1845, 26,218 acres; 
1847, 36,440 acres ; 1851, 67,642 acres. NumbeV of flouring 
mills, 1847, 25 ; and manufactories, 51. Revenue, 1847, 
£67,027 ; expenditure, £58,979. Quantity of land sold from 
the foundation of the colony to 1847, 480,944 acres. 

SOCIETY. 

The state of society in this province is best attested by the 


68 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 


btiiall amount of crime. The execution of a criminal has never 
yet taken place; and the amount of offences, of every kind, for 
many years, has not exceeded twenty to tliirty eases. The set¬ 
tlers are, for the most part, steady, industrious, and persevering, 
well educated, and possessed of moderate capital: in fact, they 
are a people possessing all the high moral character of the 
Puritans of old, ^vithout their peculiar religious acerbity oi 
fanaticism, 

A letter lately received from Adelaide gives so pleasing a 
picture of rural life in South Australia, that we venture to give 
the substance of it. The parents, who are now gray with age, 
but hale and vigorous, emigrated some years ago. In a short 
time they bought, at the upset price of $5 per acre, a section of 
84 acres, some twelve miles from Adelaide, and named it after 
their native place in England, “ Hadfield.” For some years 
they struggled to clear the land, and pay off the debt ^Yith 
were first encumbered. They arc now free from 
debt, have cleared 20 acres, grow wheat on the hills and pota¬ 
toes in the valleys, have nine bullocks, seven cows, a number of 
young cattle, and a horse ; a gaiden, producing vegetables and 
fruits, including grapes. The account given of the sons, daugh¬ 
ter’s and grandchildren of the family is quite patriarchal. Henry, 
James, John, and Elizabeth are settled, married and multiplied. 
Elijah is going to marry the daughter of the next neighbor. 
And the patriarch descants with honest pride on the comeliness 
of his wife, who “ when dressed up for meeting on Sundays, is 
the same neat—I might say, elegant—figure that she used to 
be.” But the gold mania has come down upon the colony, 
and whoever it has damaged, it has done no harm to our ' 
friends at Hadfield. They are selling their potatoes at Ade¬ 
laide at 8 s. sterling per bag of 112 lbs; their wheat at 69 . or 
^s. per bushel. 

GOVERMENT, HISTORY, ETC. 

The Government is conducted by a Lieut-Governor, and Ex¬ 
ecutive and Legislative Councils, &c., similar to Victoria. 


which they 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 


69 


Ibis colony is called “ the model province ” of Australia. It 
was the emanation from a Society formed in England, composed 
of men belonging to the Utilitarian and Radical Reformers of 
the British Empire. It was to be from the beginning a self- 
supporting and self-governing province ; colonized by people^ 
industrious, intelligent and moral, and thus form a diametrical 
contrast to the early settlements of the older colonies of Aus¬ 
tralia. Ihe land was to bo disposed of to actual settlers only, 
at an upset price of five dollars per acre, and the proceeds ap¬ 
plied to the purposes of emigration. But, however specious 
the plan might appear in theory^ it failed in being carried out 
in practice. Situated thousands of miles awav from whence 
the plan of colonization originated, and distant nearly a thou¬ 
sand miles from the nearest settlement on the same continent,, 
the early settlers had entirely to depend upon the amount of 
provisions, stock, (fee., they brought with them, till such times 
they could raise food for themselves, or import it from 
abroad. For three or four years, sums, amounting in all to 
£225,382, were voted by the British Parliament for the sup¬ 
port and maintenance of the colony. The settlers, however, by 
their exertions, overcame their difficulties, and the province 
became what it was intended to be, self-supporting. 

The first settlement was made in 1837, at Adelaide, about 
the same time as the first settlement was made in Victoria, and 
the colony increased rapidly, though nothing like Victoria in 
the same space of time. 

The following extract, from the speech of Gov. Gawler to the 
Legislative Assembly, April 3, 1840, will throw' considerable 
light on the state of the colony at that time : 

“ Three years and a half ago, the spot on which we are now 
standing was a desert unknowm to Europeans. Now we arc 
surrounded by a populous, and to a considerable extent, hand¬ 
some city. Our principal streets are lined with well-filled 
w’arehouses and shops, and crow'ded by all the attendants of 
native traffic ; handsome and substantial buildings are to be 


10 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 


seen on every side, and are rapidly increasing. Our port, which 
a few years since was an unknown salt water creek, covered 
only by water fowl, and enclosed in a mangrove swamp, is 
now filled with large shipping from Europe, India, and the 
neighboring colonies. The swamp is traversed by a substantial 
road, and handsome wharves and warehouses are rising on its 
borders. ^ ^ * Xhe neighborhood of the Capital is 

studded with numerous and populous villages; while the more 
distant country, whether to the north, the east, or the south, 
is rapidly assuming, in population, that healthy and natural 
proportion which it ought to bear to the metropolis. Farming 
establishments are in active formation on every side ; and it is 
now a matter not merely of hope, but of sober expectation, 
that our magnificent agricultural valleys will soon be filled with 
produce sufficient for home consumption. Flocks and herds of 
cattle from New South Wales already cover a tract of 200 
miles in. length. Our institutions are assuming a condition of 
stability. Our public departments have attained to a high 
degree of system and order. The aborigines have been kept 
under humane control; and considerable, though I regret to 
say, as yet unsatisfactory efforts, have been made towards their 
civilization. Property and private rights enjoy as much pro¬ 
tection as in any country in the world; and peace, union, and 
good understanding reign throughout the community.” 

From this time the colony continued to grow healthily and 
vigorously. Farming establishments spread over the country, 
and grain became an article of export to the neighboring 
colonies, and even to Europe. The wheat exported rivalled 
the best Poland, and it sold in the London market for con¬ 
siderably more than the best English wheat. The settlers also 
continued to bring overland through the wilderness from the 
settlements in New South Wales, large additions to their live 
.stock of sheep and cattle. 

In 1845, it was discovered that the coast range extending 
northward from Cape Jervis to the Narrien Mountains, for a 


PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 


71 


distance of 200 miles, was highly metalliferous, and contained 
valuable mines of copper, thus adding materially to the re¬ 
sources and wealth of the country, which still kept steadily 
increasing in population, commerce and wealth. 

The discovery of the gold mines in 1851, in the neighbor¬ 
ing colonies, completely disorganized the province. Nearly all 
the mechanics, miners, and operatives, and many of the wealthier 
classes, were otf to the diggings at Ballarat and Mount Alex¬ 
ander. Thus a country in the most healthy and vigorous state 
of existence—supplying the necessaries and comforts of civilized 
life—exhibited the novel appearance of depopulation, as though 
some frightful plague had doomed it to destruction. Men even 
got so scarce that the children would call out to their mothers 
when they happened to see one, “ Mother, here’s a man 
coming.” 

AlthougBP*the province was regularly shaken to its founda¬ 
tion, and business affairs were deranged, still many conceived 
it their interest to remain. The judicious and vigorous 
measures of the Governor, Sir F. Young—his Bullion Act—the 
establishment of an Assay Office at Adelaide, and the opening 
of a road and establishing an escort to the gold mines of Vic¬ 
toria, brought a considerable amount of treasure into the 
province, restored the circulation, stimulated the land sales and 
the general course of trade. He also offered a reward of one 
thousand pounds sterling to any one who should discover a 
gold mine in the province. 

These measures, aided by the discovery of gold at Echunga, 
near Adelaide, and the great demand and the high price paid 
for agricultural produce in the neighboring colonies, have induced 
most of the population to return, which, with the arrivals of 
large numbers of emfgrants from Europe, have again restored 
the province to its pristine activity, and it is now steadily pRi"- 
suing a course of prosperity. 


72 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 

SIR R. MURCHISON. 

Having gone through the three principal colonies of conti¬ 
nental Australia, we shall now give a brief outline of the gold 
discovery,—an event which has attracted the attention of the 
ci\ilized portion of the world to the capabilities and resources 
of these colonies, and has hastened on their growth at least half 
a century, and will render the Australia of 1860 what it might 
have been in 1920 had no such occurrence taken place. The 
rumors which had been circulated in the three provinces for 
several years previous, of gold being found by shepherds and 
bushraen, lead Tis to conjecture that the disco\'t^y was not 
altogether accidental; and in this idea we are somewhat 
strengthened by the hypothesis of Murchison. 

In 1844, Sir Roderick Murchison, chairman of the British 
Geographical Society, noticed a w’ork by Count Strzelecki (the 
discoverer of Gippsland, in Victoria), on the physical geography 
of Australia, and declared that on an examination of that trav¬ 
ellers collection of rocks, fossils, and maps, he could not but 
recognise a singular uniformity between the mountain ranges of 
the east and south of Australia and the auriferous Ural moun¬ 
tains in Russia. In 1846, he received evidence of the truth of 
his supposition in some specimens of gold quartz, sent to him 
from Australia. Thus confirmed, he advised ^ body of miners 
belonging to Cornwall county, England, to emigrate to Aus¬ 
tralia, to seek for gold among the debris of its older rocks. 
His advice, printed in the Cornwall county papers, and trans¬ 
mitted to Sydney, was so far successful, that, in 1848, he re¬ 
ceived letters from Australia, stating that they had detected 
gold, and hoping that the Government would modify the law 
as to make it worth while to engage in mining speculations. 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 


73 


In that same year, Murchison addressed a formal communi‘ 
cation on the subject to the Colonial Minister, Earl Grey, but 
that statesman took no steps in consequence, “ because he 
feared that the discovery of gold would be embarrassing to a 
wool-growing country! ” 

smith’s application. 

In 1849, a formal application was made to the authorities at 
bydney, to know what reward would be given for the discovery'' 
of a gold district. The applicant, a member of the ubiquitous 
family of Smith, produced a specimen of gold imbedded in 
quartz. The reply was, that they could enter into no blind 
bargain on the subject, but if Mr. Smith chose to trust the 
government, he might rely upon being rewarded according to 
the value of his discovery. This answer being unsatisfactory, 
nothing more was heard of Mr. Smith, nor of gold-finding. 

HARGRAVES DISCOVERS GOLD. 

On April 30th, 1851, Mr. Hargraves addressed a letter to 
the Secretary of the province of New South Wales, stating that 
he had exolored a considerable tract—that he had succeeded 

X 

beyond his expectations as to gold—and that he would point 
out the localities on being assured of £500 upon the truth of 
his representations being ascertained. This Mr. Hargraves had 
left Australia to try his fortune in California—but, being struck 
with tlie similarity of structure of the Sierra Nevada and the 
Blue Mountains of New South Wales, he soon returned. To 
him the reply was the same as to Smith. Hargraves resolved 
to trust to the justice of Government, and named the Macquar- 
rie river, with the Lewis and Summerhill creeks branching from 
it. His communication was referred to the Geological Surveyor, 
but he (Hargraves) was too sharp to wait the movements of 
officials ; he set some laborers to dig at Summerhill creek ; and 
before the Surveyor could reach the spot, the Government had 
received notice (May 8, 1851) from the Commissioner of Crown 
Lands at Bathurst, first, that several ounces of gold had been 
found ; next (May 15) that a man had found a piece weighing 


n 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 


tliirteen ounces, and that the excitement among all classes was 
intense, thousands being already on the way to the diggings. 

On the 19th of May the Geological Surveyor arrived there, 
and found about two thousand persons occupying a mile of the 
creek, each collecting with merely a tin dish from one to two 
ounces daily. The Governor felt the necessity of prompt action. 
A proclamation was issued, asserting the rights of the Crown to 
all gold found, and a system of licensing was established ; each 
license beinj; fixed at 30 shillings sterling (seven dollars and a 
half) per month, payable in advance, and no one to be eligible 
for a license unless he could prove that he was not absent from 
hired service withont leave. 

OPHIR. 

The gold field at Summerhill—promptly named Ophir—lies 
40 miles north-west of the town of Bathurst, over a clear and 
defined road, fit for caniages, and extending to the verge of the 
settled country. By the care of the Governor (Sir Charles 
Fitzroy), police stations were now established along the whole 
line of road, and a government escort for the conveyance of 
gold was set a-foot, the charge being one per cent on the value. 

The Government was fortunate in findirg an active and intel¬ 
ligent officer to carry these regulations into effect. Mr. Hardy, 
the commissioner appointed, arrived at the diggings on the 2d 
of June, and immediately began issuing licenses. He found 
about 1500 persons assembled ; they ^were so orderly that ho 
did not need a single constable, and so far from resisting the 
payment of a license fee, they were glad to be placed under 
the supervision of the Government. Those who had not money 
to pay gave gold, which was received at 64 shillings sterling 
per ounce for that obtained by washing, and 48 shillings by 
amalgamation. 

On the 3d of June the Council of New South Wales be¬ 
stowed on Hargraves £500, and an appointment as Commis¬ 
sioner of Crown Lands. He was at the same time informed, 
that it would be for the Imperial Government to erant him 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 


*76 


such further remuneration as his discovery might be thought to 
deserve. Since the foregoing was written, by late accounts 
from Australia we find the citizens were feting Mr. Hargraves. 
A public dinner has been given to him by the citizens of 
Sydney. The citizens of Melbourne and the Government of 
Victoria likewise have not been backward in doing honor to the 
man through whose acuteness the colony has been enriched. 
He has also received the compliment of a teiritorial magistracy 
for Victoria, and has also been elected an honorary member of 
the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, of the Mechanics’ 
Institution, and of the Australian Geological Society. A sub¬ 
scription was also in progress for the purpose of presenting him 
with a piece of plate; a second with the object of obtaining 
his portrait; and it w’as probable that a handsome gratuity 
would be voted to him out of the public funds which he has 
done so much to swell. 

THE tURON. 

The Geological Surveyor, Mr. Stutchbury,'found that gold 
was distributed over the bed of the Turon river, and njuch 
more evenly than in other places. This stream flows like the 
Summerhill and Lewis Creeks, into the Macquarrie, but 20 to 
30 miles further to the east. The Turon runs through a spa¬ 
cious valley, in a broad and level course, between much higher 
hills, but distant on either side, and all formed of mica-slate 
without quartz veins, whereas at Summerhill the quarts veins 
are abundant. The river is without any of the abrupt elbows 
and narrow gorges which mark the creeks, and, as a conse¬ 
quence the gold is more evenly distributed and much finer in 
the grain. This fine gold he found diffused through the soil 
“ as regularly as wheat in a sown field,” but the yield was not 
in this part very large. It was suggested that nearer its source 
the ore would turn up more abundantly, though of coarser 
grain ; and trial being made, within four days three men found 
ten pounds weight of gold. A thousand men w'ere soon con¬ 
gregated at the Turon, and the average of each man was about 

7 


76 


THi: GOLD discovery. 


an ounce daily. By and by, after careful travel, Mr. Hargraves 
reported the course of the stream to be auriferoUs for at least 
130 miles. 

HUNDRED WEIGHT OF GOLD. 

Some 20 miles north of the Turon is the Meroo, another tri^ 
butary of the Macquarrie, and branching from it is the Louisa 
Creek. By this creek, a native shepherd, in the service of Dr. 
Kerr, discovered gold embedded in masses of quartz. He 
struck one of the blocks with his tomahawk and the pure ore 
was at once revealed. The gold was contained in three blocks 
of quartz, lying 100 yards distant from a quartz vein. The 
largest of the blocks weighed 75lb., gross, and CO pounds of 
pure gold were taken from it. Unfortunately the blocks w'ere 
broken up for greater convenience of transit. The whole mass 
of gold taken from the quartz weighed 106 pounds ! It was 
promptly taken to Bathurst, and weighed in the town scales, in 
the midst of an assembled multitude of the townsfolk, and was 
afterwards deposited in the Union Bank of Australia there, and 
was subsequently seized by the Commissioner on the part of the 
Crown, as Dr. Kerr Lad taken out no licence, and a royalty of 
10 per cent, was reserved on the gold in place. But as this was 
the first discovery of the kind, the government remitted its 
claims, and Dr. Kerr became the undisputed owner of the 
twenty thousand dollar pnze ! 

The surrounding country w’as then diligently explored; the 
search was for some time unsuccessful; but at last another lump 
of gold, also embedded in its natural matrix of quartz, w^asdug 
out from the clay, about 25 yards from the spot where the 
former blocks were discovered. The w^eight of this lump was 
.336 ounces, and it was sold by public auction for 15,775. 

The next discovery of magnitude was at Araluen, 200 miles 
south of the Turon, and between ICO and 170 miles south of 
Sydney. 

Other gold discoveiies, and some very rich ones, have been 
since revealed in New South Wales.—(See Gold Eegions, 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 


11 


p. 28.)—The richest, however, were put in the shade by the 
discoveries in the sister province. 

THE PANIC IN VICTORIA. 

In Victoria the settlers were groaning over the tidings from 
New South Wales. Their best hands had started for the gold 
fields, and, if this went on, what but ruin could be anticipated ? 
To keep the people at home, a meeting was held at Melbourne, 
and $1,000 proposed as the reward for the discovery of a gold 
field within 120 miles of the city of Melbourne ; nor did they 
wait long before such discoveries were announced in the imme¬ 
diate neighborhood of Melbourne, but they proved of little con¬ 
sequence. 

GOLD FOUND AT BALLARAT AND MOUNT ALEXANDER. 

The discovery of the diggings at Ballarat was the first of 
any importance in Victoria, and the superior richness of this 
field soon attracted all adventurers. This discovery was made 
' by a blacksmith named Hopkins, who resided in the neighbor¬ 
hood, and was announced in August, 1851. The regulations 
adopted in New South Wales were put in force by Governor 
Latrobe, but with far less effect, from the small resources at his 
disposal. 

The Ballarat diggings are situate near the source of the 
river Lea, the richest being appropriately termed Golden Point. 
It was visited by Gov. Latrobe, who stated that it presents 
superficial 1}^ no feature to distinguish it from any other of the 
numerous forested spurs which descend from the broken 
* ranges at the foot of the higher ridges, and bound the valley 
on either side. Though gold is to be found in greater or less 
quantities in the whole of the surrounding country, this parti¬ 
cular point has a superficial structure different from that of others. 

The effect of this discovery was almost completely to empty 
Geelong and Melbourne, neither of the towns being distant 
above 60 miles. In a few weeks, however, the excitement 
cooled down; the product, though in some instances larger, 
seems to have been less regular than on the Turon and Ara- 


18 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 


luen, and numbers returned to their former employments. 
Up to the month of October the steady workers do not seem 
to have exceeded 3,000 ; but the discovery of the yet more pro¬ 
ductive diggings at Mount Alexander, about 40 miles N. of Bal¬ 
larat, and 15 from Melbourne, raised the fever higher than ever. 

The discovery was accidental. A shepherd found gold en¬ 
cased in a piece of quartz which be picked up on his folding' 
ground. A careful examination showed gold in a seam of 
compact quartz of about a foot in thickness A party followed 
up the seam, and in the course of a fortnight took from it, 
and from narrow layers of clay in the adjacent rock, gold to the 
amount of $2,000. But here, as in so many other places, 
nature had beneficently spared man the labor of breaking up 
the rock, and spread out her richest treasures ready to his hand. 
In the bed of the Creek, descending from the Mount, and 
facing a junction with the East Lodden river, gold was found 
abundantly diffused in the gravelly soil. When these tidings 
were published, people flocked from not only every part of 
Victoria, but from Van Diemen’s Land and South Australia, 
and even from the rich grounds of the Turon and Araluen. 
Seamen slipped from the ships in harbor, thriving shops and 
stores were shut up, and men left situations of trust to take their 
lot with the diggers. By December it v/as computed that 
12,000 were assembled in an area of 15 square miles. 

GOVERNOR LATROBE. 

The Governor and Council of Victoria inconsiderately re¬ 
solved to raise the license fee to 15 dollars per month. The 
diggers met to the number of several thousands, and resolved 
on resistance. The government was in no position to enforce 
its act, and had to draw back—thus affording evidence of its 
own weakness and the diggers’ strength. Gov. Latrobe com¬ 
plained bitterly of the insignificant force at his disposal, and 
seemed seriously to apprehend some lawless and desperate 
outbreak from the hordes of adventurers thus suddenly drawn 
together. Gov. Latrobe, in fact, seems to have shared in the 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. ^ '79 

excitement of the hour, and imagined that the world was about 
to be turned upside down. There is something strongly re¬ 
sembling exaggeration in the statement he furnishes of the 
distress of the government from the desertion of the clerks and 
officers. It is reported that his domestic servants left him en 
masse^ and that he was reduced to the necessity of grooming 
his own horse, chopping his wood, lighting his fire and cooking 
his own breakfast! 

The only departments which seem seriously to have suffered 
are those of the police and the harbor masters, but Governments, 
like private individuals, must expect to pay for labor what it is 
worth. These discoveries altered the state of society. Those 
on the lowest steps of the ladder suddenly found themselves on 
the top of it. Able-bodied men became the most valued mem¬ 
bers of the community ; and it is not often that the rude labor 
of the nervous arm can assert equality with the skilled hand or 
trained head. Gov. Latrobe found it difficult to accommodate 
himself to the change ; and there was some reason in the com¬ 
plaint of the Victorians, who found themselves destitute of 
efficient protection while a stream of gold, produced by their 
labor, was flooding the Treasury. The large sums returned by 
the licensing system could not have been turned to better ac¬ 
count than by hiring labor at what it was worth to preserve 
order, to collect the government dues, and to form roads thro’ 
districts suddenly thronged with traffic. A liberal policy would^ 
perhaps have been true economy, as from the insufficiency of 
the government staff, thousands of diggers evaded payment of 
the license fee, and thus set a bad example by showing how 
easily the official regulations might be evaded. 

PANIC IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 

At Adelaide the golden news had not only the effect of 
drawing away the bulk of the laboring population, but of drain¬ 
ing the colony of money to purchase the gold, which offered by 
far the most profitable and certain investment that could be 
found. While Gov. Latrobe, (of Victoria,) feared that the 


80 


THK GOLD DISCOVERY. 


discovery would prove “anything but a blessing,” and regarded 
with a troubled mind the efforts of “ the disreputable or un¬ 
thinking agitators of the day,” and “ the language and de¬ 
meanor of many portions of the press,” to whose comments he 
seems to have been needlessly sensitive; Gov. Young, (of 
South Australia,) deplored the stagnation of business and the 
absence of that stimulus which made Victoria so bustling. One 
required that “a regiment at least” should be stationed at 
Melbourne to preserve order ; while the other offered a reward 
of £1,000 for the discovery of gold in South Australia, and 
made every preparation for thankfully receiving the bright 
stream. So eager was the expectation of the colonists, that 
some clever hands attempted to secure the reward by stratagem. 
They took the Commissioners to some creeks in Mount Lofty 
range, and washing the black alluvial soil produced from it 
four small pieces of gold. Altogether 14 grains were obtained. 
A government notice, stating the fact, was immediately issued, 
and the Deputy-Surveyor was immediately directed to proceed 
to the spot, and “cause plots of ground to be measured off,” 
and licenses to be issued. But, for the prudence of the govern¬ 
ment, the notification contained a warning that the quantities of 
gold yet found did not exceed tiuo shilU'ngs in value. A num¬ 
ber of persons soon gathered, and commenced digging and 
washing with great eagerness ; but neither by them nor bv 
the careful researches of the Commissioners was a trace of gold 
found ; and these last could come to no other conclusion than 
that the gold which had been produced in their presence “ was 
not a natural deposit cf the soil from which it was then taken.” 

GOLD DISCOVERED. 

After a laborious search by various individuals and Govern¬ 
ment employees, the following announcement of the discovery 
of gold, about 20 miles south-east of Adelaide, appeared in the 
South Australian Register of August 25tii, 1852 :— 

“ There is now no doubt that at length an extensive and re¬ 
munerative gold field has been discovered in this province. The 


THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 


81 


extent of country in wbicli the gold occurs will probably be 
found to be very considerable. It commences at the sources of 
the Onkaparinga, near Mount Crawford and Mount Torrens, 
and reaches to the coast, following the line of that river to the 
township of Noarlunga, a tract of country not less than sixty 
miles in length. A government survey has been made, w’hen 
two hundred persons at least were present, a large number of 
whom were returned diggers from Forest Creek and llendigo ; 
and the experiments were so successful that several of them 
declared their intention of remainino-' to work it instead of 
returning to Mount iVlexander. Of the entire number of 
persons on the ground, not one, as far as I had the opj)ortunity 
of ascertaining, went away with any other opinion than that 
a great available gold field had really been discovered.” 

T\iq Register of the 27th continues : “This day, forty-five 
licences had been issued on the ground by Mr. Commissioner 
Bonney, although only a single cradle had made its appearance. 
The estimated number of persons on the gold field wns between 
400 and 500, and at least 200 persons were met on the 
road, carrying tin dishes and other implements or working 
tools. The gold is of a beautiful color, and in many instances 
the precious metal accompanied by pieces of quartz as trans¬ 
parent as crystal, and others which, though opaque, appear to 
have all the purity and delicacy of white cornelian. The 
official reports of the Colonial Secretary and Commissioner 
Bonney confirm the foregoing statements.” The results at these 
diggings, as yet, do not seem to have realized the anticipations 
of the discoverers. 

GOLD PRODUCE. 

. An estimate of the whole yield of gold from the first dis¬ 


coveries in Australia, as follows : Ounces. 

Estimated total of the yield up to August. 2,532,422 

Conveyed by escort since then. 1,332.636 

“ private hand. 133,263 


Estimated grand total yield up to 30th Dec. 1852. 3,988,321 






82 


ttiE GOLD DISCOVERf. 


We may say, in round numbers, 4,000,0b‘0 ounces-, which/ 
at'ZOs. per ounce, is £14,000,000 sterling; but its intrinsic 
value is certainly more,- nearly £16,000,000 sterling; or 
180,000,000 ! 

Statement of the gold production of the province of Victoria 


during the year 1852 :— 

The ascertained quality of gold dust Value at 

brought into Melbourne and Geelong £4 per 

by the Government escort during the Ounces. Ounce. 

year 1852, was. 1,339,845 £5,359,380 

By the Victoria Escort Company. 821,143 3,284,572 

By private hands.. . 601,688 2,406,592 

By remittances to Adelaide per escort. 228,533 914,132 

B}^ remittances to Sydney per escort.. 591,739 2,366,956 

Do. to Van Dieman’s Land per escort. 247,492 989,968 

By shipments from Melbourne. 1,886,217 7,544,868 

By shipments from Geelong. 84,020 336,080 

By shipments from Portland. 3,038 12,156 

By shipments from Port Fairy. 1,690 6,760 

Making total shipments from province. 1,974,976 7,899,904 

By amount remaining on hand on the 

31st of December, 1852. 787,660 3,150,646 


LARGEST NUGGETS FOUND. 

Dr. Kerr’s Nugget, found at Louisa Creek....106 lbs, 

Brennan’s Do. “ “ “ ... 28 “ 

Whitehorse, Do. “ Bendigo. 42 “ 

- Do. “ “ ...•.. 46 “ 

Victoria Do. “ “ ’. 28 “ 


(This last nugget was purchased at public auction by the 
Corporation of Melbourne, and by that body presented to 
Queen Victoria.) 

The largest nugget of all was picked up by four laborers at 
Ballarat, and weighed 134 lbs. 8 oz., valued at $30,000 ! The 
Sydney Herald of the 10th of February, says the “nugget” 
“ is one unbroken rounded mass, very slightly veined with 
quartz. The value of such a mass of gold is incalculable—for 
it is unique—the last and greatest wonder in the w^orld.” 
















PROVINCE OF WEST AUSTRALIA. 


83 


PROVINCE OF WEST AUSTRALIA. 

EXTENT. 

This province comprises all that portion of Australia situate 
to the westward of the 129th degree of E. long., and extends 
between the parallels of 13 deg. 44 min. and 35 deg. S. It is 
bounded on the S. by the Pacific, on the W. N. W. by the 
Indian Ocean, on the N. by the Arafura Sea, and on E. by the 
meridian line above named. The length from north to south 
is 1,280 miles, and the breadth from east to west 800 miles. 
The superficial area is computed at one million square miles, 
being one-third of continental Australia. The settled portion of 
this vast province is very small, is confined to its south-west 
angle, and is divided into 26 counties. 

PHYSICAL ASPECT. 

The distinguishing feature of the colony is an elevated and 
unususally steep and rocky range, called the Darling Hills, 
which runs parallel with the west coast, at a distance of about 
20 miles from it, and extends from near Point D’Entrecasteaux, 
at the south-west extremity of the province, away north for 
above 400 miles, with an average breadth of forty miles, and a 
height varying from 1,000 to 1,500 feet. Here are collateral 
spurs, which appear to form extensive parallel chains, and are 
probably connected with more elevated ranges in the unex¬ 
plored interior of the north and north-east. 

The Darling range, which presents the appearance of a 
mighty forest of magnificent timber, broken by a few valleys, 
separates the colony into two distinct districts, the plain of 
Quartania, situated between the hills and the sea coast, stretch- 
ino" from S. to N. for about 300 miles, with a breadth of 15 to 
20 miles. This plain is well wooded, is in some places low, 
of a coralline structure, and full of estuaries, lakes, rivers and 
streamlets, 


84 


PROVINCE OF WEST AUSTRALIA. 


The district to the eastward of the Darling range commences 
on the south coast, at King George’s Sound, and runs northerly 
for about 500 miles. It is highly picturesque, and the ex¬ 
tent of arable land is considerable. 

Western Australia has a greater variety of soils within a 
given space than the other Australian provinces, water is gener¬ 
ally diffused, though the streams are small, and there is a total 
absence of droughts. The seasons are regular, and the climate 
line, but warm. 

The soil on the coast is extremely poor and barren. A few 
miles in the interior it greatly improves, exhibiting many 
beautiful and fertile tracts, and bearing some of the most mag¬ 
nificent trees in the world. Here, also, is the same profusion of 
flowers which form so beautiful a feature of the natural vege¬ 
table productions of Australia. The animals are entirely similar 
to those of the other colonies, and it is equally free from those 
that are dano-erous to man. 

o 

PRINCIPAL SETTLEMENTS. 

Perth, the principal village, and the seat of government, is 
situated about 11 miles from the sea coast, on the banks of the 
Melville water, which is the estuary of the Swan river. The 
village is regularly laid out, has excellent houses of brick and 
stone, with large verandahs and gardens around, numerous 
churches, stores, a government house, court-house, banks, hos¬ 
pital, magazine, hotels, inns, &c. The population is about 
2,000. Perth is distant west from Sydney, in a direct line, 
2,200 miles; 1,450 from Adelaide, and 1,950 from Mel¬ 
bourne. 

Fremantle, the sea port of Perth, distant about 14 miles, 
lies immediately behind the little -promontory of “ Arthur’s 
head.” It is built entirely of white limestone. It contains 
Episcopal and Methodist churches, government store-house, 
hotels and substantial dwellings. In the winter season bay 
whaling is carried on. Population 1,500. 

Albany is a small village, on the south-coast, on the harbor 


PROVINCE OF West ACSTRAtlA, 


86 


of King George’s Sound, inhabited by persons chiefly engaged 
in fishing. It is about 280 miles S. S. E. of Perth. 

Australind is a seaport on Leschenault Inlet, 100 miles S. of 
Perth, and York^ is a small village in the interior, 70 miles W. 
of Perth. The other villages are very scattered, and the home¬ 
steads are generally very distant from one another. 

POPULATION, STOCK, TRADE, ETC. 

The progress of this colony has been very slow. Its posi¬ 
tion, being from 1,500 to 2,000 nearer Europe, would lead us 
to surmise that its increase would have been much larger than 
the other Australian colonies, instead of being quite the 
reverse. Its population in 1837 amounted but to 1,847 
persons; in 1843,3,853; and in 1852, 14,006. Live stock, 
1837, horses, 254 ; horned cattle, 837 ; sheep, 10,271; hogs, 
970 ; 1843, horses, 1,202 ; horned cattle, 4,861 ; sheep, 
76,191 ; hogs, 1951 ; 1852, horses, 7,951 ; horned catttle, 
48,760 ; sheep, 483,771 , hogs, 5,132. Land in cultivation, 
1837, 2,079 acres ; 1848, 7,174 acres. Imports, 1836, £39,- 
283; exports, £6,906; imports, 1848, £45.411 ; exports, 
£28,598. Wool exported, 1838, 36,450 lbs.; 1848, 301,- 
965 lbs. 

HISTORY, ETC. 

The name “ Swan River” was given to this portion of the 
Australian continent, by Vleming, the Dutch Navigator, who 
discovered it in 1697, and found in the neighborhood many 
black swans. In 1801, the French navigators, Bailly and 
Heirrisson, entered the River Swan, observed large flocks of 
black swans, pelicans, and parroquets, and were surprised with 
the forests and geological formations of the country. 

In the year 1829, Captain Fremantle, of the British ship 
Challenger, hoisted the cross of St. George, near the entrance 
of Swan river, and took formal possession of the country on 
- behalf of Great Britain. 

In 1830, Captain Sterling, (upon whose recommendation the 
new colonj’^ was formed, to prevent the French from locating 


86 


PROVINCE OF WEST AUSTRALIA. 


the country,) was sent out Governor, and land was granted on 
certain conditions, which rendered its acquisition dependent oil 
on a stated time. This induced many emigrants to bring out 
servants, live stock, machinery, &c., more than were required. 
The season selected for their arrival was the month of June 
(midwinter). Through the inclemency of the weather on the 
arrival of the colonists, many of the vessels w’ere wrecked and 
a large proportion of their property and stock was lost or 
destroyed. The beach was crowded with masses of human 
beings, while the stock, agricultural implements, machinery, 
furniture, &c., lay heaped together drenched with sea-water 
and torrents of rain. In fine, above a million dollars’ worth of 
property was destroyed ; the means of the immigrants dissi¬ 
pated : many died; and numbers, as soon as practicable, lied 
from the scene of ruin, carrying with them the wreck of their 
fortunes. 

The ill success attending the first settlement, and the land 
disputes that followed, completely put a stop to the progress of 
the colony, and for several years it showed little sif^ns of 
vitality. It is now, however, beginning to look up ; and the 
Home Government having now no other Australian colony to 
which they can transport their convicts, are giving Western 
Australia the benefit of their labor and services, by employing 
them as pioneers in opening and making roads, constructing 
bridges, <fec., for the use of free settlers. 

We will now bid farewell to continental Australia, and take 
a sail across Bass’s Straits to the island of Van Diemen’s Land, 


Island of van diemen^s land. 


•8V 


ISLAND OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND OR TASMANIA. 

EXTENT. 

Ibis island is situated at the southern extrenaity of Australia, 
from which it is separated by Bass’ Straits. It lies between 40 
degrees 45 minutes and 43 deg. 40 min. S. latitude, and 144 
deg. 45 min. and 148 deg. 30 min. E. longitude of Greenwich. 
In shape it somewhat resembles a heart. Its length, north and 
south, is 210 miles; its breadth, east and west, 180 miles. Su¬ 
perficial area, v/ith its dependent islets. 27,000 square miles. 
The settled portion of the island is divided into eleven counties. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

The appearance of the island from the sea is highly pictu¬ 
resque, presenting an endless succession of lofty mountains, cov¬ 
ered to their summits with wood ; while tall rocks and precipices, 
glens and hills, contribute to increase the beauty of the laiid- 
■scape. The southern, eastern, and western coasts are generally 
high and rocky. The northern shores present a line of low 
sandy beaches, broken by rocky headlands. There are nume¬ 
rous large and excellent harbors, bays and ports distributed all 
around the island. The principal rivers are the Derwent and 
the Tamar. Besides these, there are a multitude of smaller 
rivers, lakes, and streams. The mountain ranges and isolated 
eminences are of considerable elevation. The loftiest are Mount 
Humboldt, 5520 feet; Ben Lomond, 5002; Cradle Mountain, 
4700 ; Dry’s Bluff, 4590; and Mount Wellington, 4195. 

PRINCIPAL CITIES AND SETTLEMENTS. 

Hobart Town or Hoharton^ the chief city, stands on the left 
bank of the Derwent river, about 20 miles above its junction with 
the sea. It is built on gently rising ground, backed by an am¬ 
phitheatre of well-wooded and lofty hills, having Mount Wel¬ 
lington as the highest, on the west; while the estuary of the 
Derwent, with its shipping and picturesque points of land, skirts 
it on the east. The streets of Hobarton are wide and long, ia- 

8 


88 


ISLAND OF VAN DIEMEn’s LAND. 

tersecting each other at right angles, well paved, and present 
long rows of handsome stores, shops and houses built of white 
freestone. The public buildings are handsome structures, and 
consist of the government and court bouses, Episcopal and 
Catholic cathedrals, churches, schools, hospitals, banks, hotels, 
(fcc. Through the middle of the city runs a creek, which, besides 
turning numerous mills, affords the inhabitants a good supply of 
water, chiefly by means of pipes laid on to the houses. Popu¬ 
lation of the city 24,000. In the immediate vicinity numerous 
handsome villas have been erected. 

Launceston^ the principal town in the north of the island, is 
situated at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers, 
at the head of the navigable portion of the Tamar, which dis¬ 
charges itself into Bass’ Straits, 45 miles below the town. The 
houses and buildings of Launceston are mostly well built of 
brick. Its streets are spacious, and laid out at right angles. 
There are numerous churches, tw'o of which (a Presbyterian and 
an Episcopalian) are fine structures. The exchange, reading 
rooms and the literary sucieties are equal to any thing of the 
kind in the old world. Indeed, the business-like appearance of 
the place, its shipping, wharves and stores, show’ that its citizens 
are w’ell aware of its importance as the maritime key to a large 
and fertile country. The j^opulation of Launceston is 16,000. 
It is distant 124 miles N. of Hobarton. Any one visiting the 
-farms in the country around Launceston will cease to wonder at 
the great shipments of grain from that port, or that the district 
should be called the “ Granary of Australia.” 

Among the many flourishing villages in the island are. New 
Norfolk or Elizabethtown, Georgetown, Richmond, Brighton, 
Lincoln, Sorrel, Oatlands, Sw^ansea, Gampbelltown, Longford, 
Ramsgate, Both well and Ross. The last-named village has an 
annual cattle fair, the largest in Australia. 

NATURAL HISTORY, ETC. 

The animals are the same as in continental Australia. The 
dingc is not found here, but there is another great enemy to 


89 


ISLAND OF VAN DIEMEn’s LAND. 

the settler’s flocks, a kind of panther. The native cat is hand¬ 
some but very ferocious. The seas abound in whales, dolphins 
and seals, and the shores with mussels, oysters, and fish of 
various kinds. 

The island possesses a great variety of trees and shrubs. 
There are many adapted for house and ship building. The 
trees are nearly all evergreens. All the fruits and vegetables of 
Britain and North America thrive well here. 

Among the mineral productions are iron, stone, lead, zinc, 
manganese. Coal exists in various places in the island. Gold 
is reported to have been found at Fingal, in Cornwall county. 

The climate is salubrious, much cooler than Victoria, and 
not subject to extremes, and the atmosphere is pure. 

RELIGION, EDUCATION, PODULATION, SOCIETY. 

The laws and regulations respecting religion and education 
are the same as in New South Wales and Victoria. The Epis¬ 
copal and Catholic Churches have each their Bishops. 

The population of the island in 1821 was 7,108; 1832, 
24,086 ; 1840, 53,812 ; 1852, 103,250, of which number 
about 20,000 are convicts. 

Society is much the same in this island as it was in New 
South Wales, being divided into free settlers, emancipists and 
convicts. 

CONVICTS. 

The transportation of convicts to this island has of late years 
been a bone of contention between the colonists and the 
home government, and has occasioned very hard feelings be¬ 
tween the parties. To such a height have these feelings been 
carried, that the Legislative xYssembly has even stopped voting 
the supplies till such time as transportation should cease. 
Indeed so violent were many members of that body, that they 
proposed oftering armed resistance to any attempt at its con¬ 
tinuance. Mount Wellington was to be another Bunker Hill, 
and the “ five-starred banner of Australia,”—the standard of 
independence, was to be raised on its summit 


90 


ISLAND OF VAN DIEMEN^S LAND. 


But times have altered, the dig^^ings have been discovered— 
labor has got very scarce—and selfishness gets the upper hand 
of patriotism! A ship laden with convicts anchors in the 
harbor of Hobarton. Where now are the patriot leaders 
and the patriot bands? Are they raising the standard of Aus¬ 
tralian independence, and lighting up their watch-fires on the 
snow-capt peak of Mount Wellington ? No ! Among the first 
to rush up the ship-side—to cast lots for a share in this cargo of 
corrupt humanity—is the mover of the resolution in the Le¬ 
gislature, T. G. Gregson, the honorable member for Richmond, 
who now rejoices that he drew a prize in the lottery, that con¬ 
vict labor is better than no labor at all, and he is sorry he had 
been “ too precipitate ” in his movements in the Legislature! 

Convict transportation, however, has not been without its de¬ 
fenders, and one among-st the number is Mrs. C. Meredith, the 
wife of a wealthy and respectable, farmer, who takes up the 
gauntlet in its defence with all the chivalry of Mrs. J. G. Tyler, 
and whose statements in favor of this “peculiar domestic insti¬ 
tution ” have, in conjunction with the recent conduct of its 
opponents, much modified our preconceived notions on the sub¬ 
ject. We shall, therefore, give that lady’s story in her own words : 

“ I have lived about nine years in the colony, the wife of a 
settler, and during that time we have been served by prisoners 
of all grades, as ploughmen, shearers, reapers, butchers, gard¬ 
eners, carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, shoemakers, housemaids, 
&c., Ac., and (with one or two exceptions) served as well and 
faithfully as we could desire. What more could be said byany 
farmer’s wife at home ? Are the English laborers blameless ? 
[ can only call to mind one instance of known dishonesty 
among our many men-servants, (that of a groom who stole 
some wine,) and I believe the acts of petty theft are far less 
common among them than among the generality of servants 
at home. Many persons here could and would, if required, 
give the same evidence which I now do; but I prefer adducing 
a few' facts from my own knowledge, as a proof that transpor¬ 
tation to these colonies is —always excepting the probation 
system—productive of reformation to many who otherwise 
would, in all probability, have been utterly lost. Five, ten, and 


ISLAND OF VAN DIEMEn’s LAND. 


91 


fifteen years are common periods for prison servants to remain 
in the same service, before and after their conditional pardon ; 
and I lately heard of one who has for twenty-eight years lived 
with another master in a situation of great trust. My hus¬ 
band’s father, Mr. George Meredith, and himself, have now on 
their estates five old servants, four of whom have been in their 
family since 1826, and one since 1825, the latter being until 
lately overseer on a large agricultural farm. One of our four 
beforenamed- was once an overseer for many years, and now 
rents a farm and flock from my husband—his wife having 
joined him eighteen or twenty years ago, with their family now 
grown up and married ; the second was in like manner gra¬ 
dually promoted from one post to another till he married, be¬ 
came a supei'intendent, and then a tenant; the third, a good 
workman in an useful trade, has received a free pardon, is now 
also a tenant of my father’s, and working for himself; and the 
fourth having been employed, since he became free, in whaling, 
sawing, splitting, and divers other occupations, has, for the last 
eight years been cook and “ major domo ” in our own house, 
where his faithful attachment and incorruptible honesty are ap¬ 
preciated as they deserve. At the very time I am writing, he 
and a ‘ ticket-of-leave ’ gardener are the only persons in our 
lonely house, (Mr. Meredith being absent in Hobarton,) and I 
feel no more, perhaps even less, fear of attack or molestation, 
than I should in the middle of London : firstly, because I have 
no idea that robbers will come; and secondly, because I know 
that, if they did, I and my children would be defended to the 
utmost by these very prisoner-servants ; and I think it must be 
very evident that the country cannot be the den of horrors it 
has of late been painted, where a female only so protected can 
sit in her quiet country house, forty miles from the nearest vil¬ 
lage, with doors and windows left open the whole day through, 
and sleep safely and peaceably at night, without a bar or bolt 
or shutter to a single window, every room being on the ground 
floor. I have only particularized a few instances of long ser¬ 
vices, but I could enumerate numbers of men who have lived 
in the same family ten, fifteen, and eighteen years, as trusted 
and respected servants ; some who have grown old and died on 
the same establishment. Surely such distinct and indisputable 
facts as these are more worthy of credence, and a safer guide to 
the truth than the vague, generalising denunciations now so 
commonly set forth by the slanderers of the colony. If I were 
to note all the corroborative evidence that occurs to me, I should 


92 


ISLAND OF VAN DIEMEN’s LAND. 


fill my little book with it; in no places that I ever knew at 
home are houses and families left so totally unprotected and in 
such perfect safety as here. In a lone cottage, seven miles from 
our own, there lives, at this very time, a lady, an educated 
gentlewoman, and her four young children—the eldest only 
eleven—without even a man-servant in or near the place, all 
being with their master on a distant farm; all the neighboring 
settlers have numerous prisoner servants, yet she lives undis¬ 
turbed.” 

A change has taken place in the home government, and a 
new ministry has been appointed. One of its earliest acts was 
to notif}^ the colonists that transportation of convicts should 
cease and for ever. 

GOVERNMENT, HISTORY, ETC. 

The government of the island is vested in a Lieut.-Gov. and 
Executive and Legislative Councils, same as Victoria. 

This island was discovered by Tasman, the Dutch navigator, 
who visited it in 1642, and named it Van Diemen, after the 
Gov. of the Dutch settlements in the East Indies. Tasman con¬ 
sidered it to bs the southern portion of New Holland, (now’ 
Australia.) It was not known to be a separate island till 
I'/OS, when Lieut. Bass passed through the straits which divide 
the island from the main land. 

Formal pos.sessiou w’as taken of Van Diemen’s Land in 1802^ 
m the name of Great Britain, by Lieut. Bowen, who w'as des¬ 
patched from Sydney for the purpose of forming a penal set¬ 
tlement for convicts. The next year Gov. Collins removed the 
settlement from Risdon Cove, on the left bank of the River Der¬ 
went, to a position which was four miles nearer the sea, and 
contiguous to a commodious harbor. On this spot now stands 
the flourishing city of Hobarton. In. 1813 merchant vessels 
were allowed to trade to the island ; in 1819 free immigrants 
w’ere allowed to settle ; and in 1825 the island was separated 
from New South Wales and formed into a distinct government. 


ISLANDS OB' NEW ZEALAND. 




ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND OR MAORIA. 

EXTENT, ETC. 

This extensive and beautiful group of Islands is situated in 
the South Pacific Ocean, between 34 deg. and 48 deg. S. lat. 
and 166 deg. and 179 deg. E. long., and about 1,200 miles 
S. E. pf Australia ; 5,000 miles from the west coast of South 
America, and 16,000 from England, of which these islands form 
the Antipodes. From Cape Van Diemen, the most northerly 
point of the north island to South Cape in the south island is 
900 miles, with an average breadth of about 130 miles. The su¬ 
perficial area is estimated at 122,000 square miles. The group 
is composed of three large islands—north, south and middle— 
and several small ones. 

PHYSICAL ASPECT. 

' A chain of lofty mountains, of which some peaks rise 12,000 
to 14,000 feet above the. level of the sea, extends along the 
Middle Island, and is continued to some extent through the 
Northern Island, forming what is tei-med the “ back bone ” of 
the country, in connection wdth numerous subordinate ranges of 
hills. The wdiole range is covered for the greater part, to the 
verge of perpetual snowq with lofty timber and vegetation, in¬ 
tersected by streams and cascades. There are numerous rivers 
and streams throughout the country, which have their origin in 
these mountains. Many of the rivers are navigable to a con¬ 
siderable extent, and possess falls which afford the means of 
establishing mills in most parts of the country. 

New Zealand is of volcanic origin, there being many extinct 
and several active volcanoes in the interior of the islands. 
Mount Egmont or Taranaki forms an immense volcanic cone, 
9000 feet above the sea. Fossil remains of gigantic birds ; the 
bones of some have been found, which must have been 16 feet 
high, devoid of wings. 


94 


ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND, 


ISLANDS, PROVINCES, SETTLEMENTS. 

The North Island, called New Ulster, contains 48,000 square 
miles, and comprises the provinces of Auckland, New Ply¬ 
mouth and Wellington. Cook’s straits separate the north and 
middle islands. The middle island called New Munster, con¬ 
tains 70,000 square miles, and comprises the provinces of 
Nelson, Canterbury and Otago. Foveaux Straits separate the 
middle and southern islands. The southern island, called 
New Leinster, or Stewart’s Island, contains- 2,000 square miles, 
and has on it at present but a few fishing establishments. 

Auckland comprises the northern section of the north island, 
and scarcely exceeds 50 miles in width. It has within it the 
city of Auckland^ the seat of government, which is a fast im¬ 
proving place, containing 6,000 inhabitants. The Episcopal 
Church is a fine edifice. The houses and stores are well built. 
Karorarika, the oldest British trading and Missionary set¬ 
tlement, is 90 miles north of Auckland. The government was 
first established here, but afterwards removed to Auckland. 
Russell is a township on the Bay of Islands, which has an 
entrance 11 miles broad, without a bar. Inside are many 
rocky islets ; the water is deep and the anchorage excellent. It 
has long been a favorite resort for whale ships. Gold has 
been found in small quantities in this province at Wynyard’s 
diggings, Coromandel harbor. The population is 58,000, of 
whom 40,000 are natives. 

New Plymouth province lies south of Auckland, and from 
the fertility of its soil and the beauty of its climate, it is justly 
called the “ Garden of New Zealand,” Rev. Mr. Yates, a Mis¬ 
sionary, speaking of this province, says, “ here the sicklv 
become healthy, the healthy become robust, and the robust fat.” 
New Plymouth or Taranaki is a beautiful village, increasing 
rapidly, and is surrounded by a thickly settled farming country. 
Mount Egmont is 16 miles south of the village. 150 miles S. 
of Auckland. Population of the province 40,000, of whom 
30,000 are natives. 


ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 


95 


Wellington province is the southern portion of the northern 
island. This is very mountainous and hilly, and densely tim¬ 
bered. Coal has been discovered in great profusion at Paka- 
wau, and a company is formed to work it. Wellington^ the 
chief town, a place of considerable business, is situate on 
• Port Nicholson, near Cook’s Straits. The harbor is 12 miles 
long by 3 broad, and is subject to violent hurricanes. Wel¬ 
lington is 300 miles S. of Auckland. Population 40,000, of 
whom 25,000 are natives. 

Nelson province comprises the northern section of the middle 
island on the opposite side of Cook’s Straits to Wellington. 
This is a good agricultural district, and is fast rising in wealth 
and population. Nelson village is situate on Admiralty Bay, 
a deep inlet of Cook’s Strait, extending inwardly about 40 
miles. Number of whites 14,000, natives 19,000. Copper 
has been discovered at Dun Mountain, near Nelson village. 

Canterhary province comprises the centre of the middle 
island. This section contains large tracts of rich, level land. 
Grass, knee deep, abounds on the plains. The soil is deep and 
of excellent quality. In the western part of the province is a 
mountain range covered with snow. This district was settled 
by a body of Episcopalians, under the auspices of the “ Can¬ 
terbury Association.” The principal villages arc Christ Church 
and Lyttleton. The Editor of the Australian, (a Sydney 
paper,) who visited these parts a few months ago, thus writes 
of the Canterbuiy people :—“ They look upon us Australians 
as half convict, half savage ! At the same time, I must own, 
I never srw a better dressed mob, or heard so much good 
music and speechifying in the same number of persons on our 
side the water. For printing and public meetings it is a Lilli- 
put London, and for gentility, divisions, subdivisions and exclu¬ 
sives, it bangs ‘ the city of palaces,’ Bath.” The French settlers 
who intended to occupy New Zealand for the Frcncli govern¬ 
ment, settled at Akaroa, in this province, and have become 
British subjects. Population, whites 10,000, natives 5,000. 


96 


ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 


Otago^ the most southern province, possesses a great deal of 
available land, and much resembles Canterbury in its general 
capabilities. The principal place is Dunedin, which is laid out 
at the head of Otago harbor. The settlers here are chiefly 
Scotch, belonging to the Free Presbyterian Church, and the 
educational and reliojious institutions are in unison with it. 
Dunedin is YOO miles south of Auckland. Population, whites 
8,000, natives 4,000. 

NATURAL HISTORY 

The forest trees grow to a very large size, and much of 
their timber is used for ship-building. Flax is also an impor¬ 
tant production. The vegetables and fruits of Europe flourish. 
Seeds which were sown by Capt. Cook have propagated them¬ 
selves over the country. 

There are no native quadrupeds in New' Zealand. Those at 
present existing are from the stock left by Capt. Cook, or have 
been introduced by the missionaries and settlers. Pigs are very 
numerous, having spread rapidly over the country. Cattle and 
sheep thrive well. Dogs and cats abound. 

Among the feathered tribes may be found ducks, geese, cur¬ 
lews, woodcocks, wood pigeons, and a variety of singing birds. 

Fish are abundant all around the coast. The most plentiful 
are soles, mackerel, codfish, salmon, oysters, &c. Whales and 
seals are caught in the neighboring seas. 

RELIGION. 

The white population possess ministers and ])laces of worship 
according to their different denominations. There are Christian 
Missions employed in the conversion of the i\boi4^'ines. A 
despatch of Gov. Sir George Grey, dated July, 1849, has the 
follow’ing: “ The natives have almost, as an entire race em¬ 
braced Christianity, and have abandoned the most revolting of 
their heathen customs.” 

« TRADE, REVENUE, POPULATION. 

The total value of imports in 1847 into the islands was 
ii)202,355, and the exports, £48,485. Exports, 1850, £115,- 


ISLANDS OF New Zealand. 


451. Revenue, 1849, £48,589 ; 1850, £57,743. The popu¬ 
lation is estimated at 190,000, of whom about 115,000 are 
natives. 

ABOlilGINES, MISSIONARIES. 

The natives of New Zealand are a fine race of people, with 
olive complexions, and were formerly savage and ferocious. All 
enemies taken in war were either devoured at their feasts or 
offered up at their shrines to appease the rage of their gods. 
And numerous instances are on record where vessels trading to 
or wrecked upon their shores, have been seized upon and the 
officers and crews carried ashore, killed, roasted, and devoured 
by the natives. Such was the case when the first Missionary of 
Christ set his foot on their shores. IIow different now— 

“-The heathen once adoring. 

Idol gods of wood and stone, 

Come, and, worshipping before him 
Serve the living God alone.” 

The missionary—the visionary of the man of the world—has 
brought the niost degraded people from out of darkness to 
marvellous light; he has taught them the truth as it is in Jesus ; 
he has abolished their sanguinary wars, their cannibal feasts, 
their human sacrifices—and he has rendered the “ tabooed ” 
places of the wild man the tabernacles of the one living and true 
God—thereby proving the truth of the words of the Apostle : 
“ How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of 
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.” Here is the 
picture of a missionary establishment, by Mr. Darwin, the 
naturalist, of the British ship Beagle: “ Fields of corn, wheafi 
potatoes and clover wei’e seen growing, and large gardens with 
every fruit and vegetable that England produces. The water 
of a small stream on the grounds had been collected into a 
pool and a flour mill erected. The house has been built, the 
windows framed, the fields plowed, and even the trees grafted 
by the New Zealander. At the mill a native may be seen 
powdered white with flour, conducting its operations.” The 



08 


ISLAS^DS OS' NEW SEALAKD. 


Bible has been translated into the Maori, and there are now 
several newspapers printed in that language. 

GOVERNxMENT, HISTORY, ETC. 

The Government of the islands is vested in a Governor and 
Parliament, composed of two chambers. The six provinces 
have each a Legislature and Superintendent for their own in¬ 
ternal management. The Colonial Charter enacts : “ that there 
shall be no difference between natives and Europeans in regard 
to the exercise of the franchise, but that whenever a native shall 
be residing within the limits of a province, and shall be possessed 
of the required qualification, he shall be looked upon as a British 
subject, and possess equal rights and privileges with his Euro¬ 
pean neighbors.” 

These islands were visited by the Dutch navigator Tasman, 
in 1642, who supposed the country was part of a great southern 
continent. Little further was known until Captain Cook, in 
lYGO-YO visited the east coast of the northern island. After 
this period the islands were visited by whaling ships, and be¬ 
came a refuge for runaway convicts from Australia. In 1814 
Christian Missionaiies began to visit New Zealand, with a view 
to the conversion and civilization of the natives. In 1825 an 
attempt was made to colohize New Zealand, under the auspices 
of the Earl of Durham, but failed. In 1839 a company, which 
started in London, called the New Zealand Company, com* 
raenced a systematic effort for the occupation of the Islands, 
(without the consent of the British Government,) and sent an 
expedition and a large number of emigrants out for that pur¬ 
pose, under Colonel Wakefield. The following year, however, 
the British Government took formal possession of the islands, 
find they now are integral portions of the British Empire. 


APPENDIX. 


-- 

XIISCELLANY. 

The following interesting information is from the last arrivals 

NEW SOUTH WALES. 

On account of the great dearth of labor, there w’as a great 
demand for thrashing machines and all machinery for agricul¬ 
tural purposes. 

VICTORIA. 

Shipping inwards, 1851, vessels 669, tonnage 126,000 ; 
1852, vessels 1657, tonnage 408,000. Imports, 1852, £4,044,- 
000, exports £7,452,000. The customs’ returns gave 1,970,000 
ounces of gold as the quantity exported for 1852, but an addi¬ 
tional 1,600,000 ounces has been traced into the adjoining pro¬ 
vinces. A careful estimate gave the value of exports raised in 
Victoria in 1852 at no less than £15,000,000 sterling. 

Two more large nuggets have been found in Canadian gully, 
Ballarat: the biggest weighed 93 lbs. 2 oz., the other 83 lbs. 9 oz. 

Astonishing quantities of gold are daily obtained by the 
120,000 diggers working at Ballarat, Mount Alexander and the 
other fields of this golden province. The price of the precious 
metal had advanced to 76s. sterling per ounce. Up to the be¬ 
ginning of March the exportations had aggregated more than 
nineteen tons of pure gold. 

Coal, in unlimited qualities, had been discovered a few miles 
distant in the interior from Portland, and in the immediate 
neighborhood of the town. 

O 

SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 

Imports, 1851, £395,000 ; 1852, £278,000. Exports, 1851, 
£378,000; 1852, £730,000. 

Great and joyous excitement was caused by the circumstance 
of the first steamer starting on the Murray, on her first voyage 
up that splendid stream, which is navigable for one thousand 
miles, connecting the territories of South Australia, New South 
Wales and Victoria. A second ship was building for the same 
service. The arrival of emigrants from England and elsewhere 
had induced the Burra Burra Mining Company to notify their 
intention to resume those important operations in the deeper 
levels, which the late gold mining fever compelled them to sus¬ 
pend last year. 



100 


Al>p^:NDI:x:. 


ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS. 

Our advice, of course, is not intended for that class of persons 
who are “clothed in purple and fine linen and fare sumptuously 
every day,” and who, when they take a voyage, loll about at 
their ease in carpeted cabins and saloons ; but for a more numer¬ 
ous and far more useful class who may have to make a trip in 
not quite so luxurious a style. 

It is necessary that all passengers should bestow some little 
time and attention in fitting up their berths: it will add much 
to their comfort on the voyage. Packages would cost them 
little, if they were to get them made as under :—a chest of 
drawers, made to fit on the top of another, of strong w'ood,iron 
or brass bound; but if they are well dove-tailed together, it is not 
absolutely necessary ; they should be three ft. long, two ft. deep, 
and two feet wide; two drawers in each, with handles sunk in 
the face, a good strong pair of handles on either side, and two 
iron holdfasts to go up face of drawers, with hinges to screw 
into the deck, and two into the bulk-head of ship,’and to meet 
at top edge, and there to lock with padlocks ; they would, at 
the end of the voyage, make very useful pieces of furniture, 
and easily be moved, and, moreover, could be placed one of the 
top of another, so need never have boxes to move, as the draw¬ 
ers would draw out and never be in the way ; at the top should 
be a small safe, exactly the same size as the boxes, with folding 
doors and shelves, with places to fix your plates, tea cups and 
crockery, to save them from breakage. The drawers might be 
piled one above another to top of the space ’tween decks and 
have more room below in consequence. Or, a chest of drawers 
might be had cased in pine, with the front open, so as to use the 
drawers, some shelves with ledge in front, a few tools, nails, 
hooks, &c. ; and be content with the ship’s lumber, and a good 
horsehair mattress, and a shelf with a hole in it to drop the 
wash basin in. Be sure to take a good filter. If the season 
will permit, take plenty of good apples, well packed, preserves, 
dried fruits,, acidulated drops and seidlitz powders, but these two 
last must be in well stoppered bottles ; some good chocolate 
and cocoa paste, ready prepared with milk ; also all kinds of 
pickles, they vary the salt provisions, and promote good health. 
Potatoes are a luxuiy. A hamper or two of soda-water would 
be good in the tropics. A portable lamp in a shade, with a 
small kettle on the top, will he found handy to heat water, 
for a cup of tea, &c. 




•V 


5 


V.t : 


APPENDIX. 


101 


Passengers will find the necessity of providing themselves 
with light as w’ell as very warm clothing, as there are no fires 
on board, save those used for cooking. In the tropics the 
clothing used will be necessarily very light; but after passing 
Qape ot Good Hope, the necessity of pea jackets or pilot cloth 
coats and trowsers for wear, and blankets, &c., for your bedding, 
will be found very necessary and will add much to your com¬ 
fort. Some persons take two or three pairs of linen sheets, 
which are very useful in warm w^eather. In cold or wet, damp 
weather, lie in your blankets; in such weather all the sheets on 
board get damp from the sea air, and are uncomfortable. 

Boots and shoes not intended for use on the voyage should 
be well dried or greased lightly, and packed in a small package 
by themselves, as the leather is apt to give and get mouldy. 

Keep but a few changes of clothes out, or they will be spoiled, 
because they must be washed as they get soiled, and sea wash¬ 
ing is very rough work. Ilav^e some fresh water soap on hand, 
for there is a chance of getting rain water sometimes, and have 
a few-bars of salt water soap as well. 

In bringing articles to hold water, if there are many persons 
in a party, take two six-gallon and two two-gallon stone jugs, 
or as many as may seem fit. They are much better than tin, 
which gets rusty. Any potter who supplies the wine-merchants 
would make them to order ; and have them basketed and a tap- 
hole put into them, into which a cork can be put, and a hole , 
through the cork admits the tap. The mouth should be large, 
to admit the arm, so that they may be easily cleaned. The 
shape should be large at the bottom and low. The more up¬ 
right the sides are the better, as no room should be lost; and 
every thing must be made so as to make the most of space. 

It will be beneficial to health, to take, in fine weather, the 
beds and bed clothing upon deck, to be exposed to the wind 
and sun. This shonld be done once or twice a week. 

On all well-regulated passenger ships, if there be a minister 
on board, it is usual to have divine service performed on Sun¬ 
days on the deck of the vessel. If there be uo minister on 
board, prayers are generally read by the captain, surgeon, or 
one of the passengers. 

The best time of the year to sail to Australia is in the month 
of October. 


102 


APPENDIX. 


THE GOLD REGULATIONS. 


Colonial Secretary’s Office, Sydney, 
March 29 th, 1852.' 

His Excellency, the Governor-General, has been pleased, with the ad¬ 
vice of the Executive Council, to direct that the following consolidated 
and amended code of regulations for the inaragement cf the gold fields be 
published for general information. 

I. ALLUVIAL GOLD. 

1. CROWN LAND LICENSES. 

1. IVo person will be permitted to dig, search for, or remove gold on 
or from any land, public or private, without taking out a license in the 
form annexed. All gold procured without due authority shall be seized 
as the property of the crown, in whose possession soever it may be. 

2. The license fee for crown (unsold lands) has been fixed at thirty 
shillings sterling per month, to be paid in advance. These licenses only 
extend to the extraction of alluvial gold, matrix gold being the subject of 
other regulations, which will be found in a subsequent part of the present 
code. 

.3. Tneenses can be obtained on the gold field from the commissioner, 
or assistant commissioner, appointed by his Excellency to carry the regu¬ 
lations into eficct, and who is authorized to receive the fee payable 
thereon. 

4. No person will be eligible to obtain a license, or the renewal of a 
license, unless he shall produce a certificate of discharge from his last 
service, or show, to the satisfaction of the commissioner or assistant com¬ 
missioner, that he is not a person improperly absent from hired service. 

5. Persons desirous of establishing claims to new and unoccupied 
ground by working in the ordinary method for alluvial gold, may have 
their claims marked out on the following scale to each person : 1. Fifteen 
feet frontage to either side of a river or main creek. 2. Twenty feet of 
the bed of a tributary to a river or main creek extending across its whole 
breadth. 3. Sixty feet of the bed of a ravine or water-course. 4. Twen¬ 
ty feet square of table land or river flats. 

G. These claims will be secured to the parties for such time only as 
they contitiue to hold licenses for the same; unless in ease of flood or 
other such unavoidable accident as shall, in the opinion of the commis¬ 
sioner or assistant commissioner, render a suspension of the work inev¬ 
itable. 

7. The above licenses may be cancelled and the claims forfeited incon¬ 
sequence of^the 'conviction of the holders, in any court of competent 
jurisdiction, of the illicit sale of spirits, or of any disorderly or riotous 
conduct endangering the public morals or peace. 

8. Persons found working alluvial gold on aay land, public or privaU, 
without having previously paid the license fee to the proper officer, shall 
pay double the amount for such license; and, in default, be proceeded 
against in the usual manner. 

9. If any dispute shall arise in respect to any claim, reference should 
be forthwith made by the complainant to the commissioner or assistant 
commissioner of the district, who will lose no time in hearing and sum¬ 
marily determining the case on the spot, according to the evidence ad- 



APPENDIX. 


103 


<!uoed on either side, giving due notice, of course, to the pnrty com¬ 
plained of. ^ If necessary, ho will take the proper measures for placing 
and maintaining the successful party in possession of the claim. 

2. PRIVATE LAND LICEJVSES. 

With respect to lands alienated by the crown in fee simple, the com¬ 
missioner will not be authorized to issue licenses under these regulations 
to any persons but the proprietors, or persons authorized by them in writ¬ 
ing to apply for the same. The license fee for such lands will be one- 
half only of that payable to cia/wn lands. Persons holding the same and 
working on crown lands without licenses applicable thereto, will be liable 
to the payment of a double fee. 

3. WATER HOLES. 

1. Persons desirous of draining ponds or water holes for the purpose of 
obtaining alluvial gold, may make application in writing to the commis¬ 
sioner or assistant commissioner of the district, describing accurately the 
locality. Such applications shall be decided by priority, and shall be im¬ 
mediately recorded by such officer in a book to be kept by him for that 
purpose, which shall be open at all reasonable times for the inspection of 
applicants. If there should be no valid objection to the application from 
interference with alluvial digging or other sufficient cause, the right to 
drain the water hole will be conceded to the applicant on payment of such 
number of licenses as shall be proportioned tu the area of the water hole, 
calculated at the rate of twenty-five feet square for every license. A 
claim for emptying a water hole will be deemed to extend twelve feet 
from the bank, defining the boundar)’ of such water hole, together with 
sufficient space for the erection of machinery, and fer other necessary 
purposes, to bo determined by the commissioner or assistant commissioner 
of the district. 

2. The commissioner or assistant commissioner is empowered to make 
such temporary regulations as may be necessary to prevent inconvenience 
to other licensed persons from ths carrying on of operations of the above_ 
nature. 

4. R.SSERVOIRS FOR WASHING GOLD. 

1. Persons desirous of constructing reservoirs or dams on the gold 
fields for the purpose of washing gold should make application to the 
local assistant commissioner, who w'lll, if the .same should appear to him 
unobjectionable, grant the requisite permission. 

2. The reservoirs or dams shall be reserved for the exclusive use of 
the applicants, in all cases in which such reservation will not, in the 
opinion of the assistant commissioners, be detrimental to the public in¬ 
terests. 

5. EMPLOYERS OF LICENSED LABORERS, 

1. The owners of all claims, who may employ men on hire to assist 
them in working alluvial gold, and who may take out licenses for them, 
will be entitled, on application to the commissioner or assistant commis¬ 
sioner of the district, lo have the licenses of such men ti-ansferred toother 
laborers, in tlie event of their quitting their service or ceasing to work 
for them. The licenses must in every case be produced to the commis¬ 
sioner or assistant commiss oner, who will endorse thereon, without any 
additional fee, the name of the transferee. 


104 


APPENDIX. 


II. MATRIX GOLD. 

1. CROWN LAND. 

1. Persons desirous of working auriferous quartz veins, may make ap- 
plication in writing to the commissioner or assistant comiDissioner of the 
gold district, accurately describing the locality. Such application shall be 
immediately recorded by such officer in a book to be kept by him for that 
purpose, which shall be open at all reasonable times to the inspection of 
applicants. In case no previous application shall have been made in the 
manner above described, and should there be no valid objection to the 
proposal from interference with alluvial digging or any other sufficient 

•cause, the commissioner, on the same being approved of by the govern¬ 
ment, shall notify to the applicant his acceptance of the same. The ap¬ 
plicant shall then enter into a bond binding himself and his partners, 
should the government be satisfied with the sufficiency of the parties 
jointly and severally in the sum of £ 1000 , to pay a royalty of 10 per 
cent, on all gold obtained, to an officer to be appointed for that purpose 
by the government. If the gevernment be not satisfied with the suffici¬ 
ency of the applicant, then two or more solvent and responsible parties 
must be named. He shall further be bound to permit such officer to re¬ 
side on the land in the neighborhood of the works, at such spot as may 
be assigned by the commissioner, and also to give such officer access at 
all reasonable times to the buildings or premises, and to all books and 
accounts connected with the production of gold ; also to give all neces¬ 
sary facilities for the collection of the royalty daily or weekly, as may be 
found most desirable. 

2. All buildings, machinery, or other improvements erected or made 
on the land, shall be considered as additional security for the due per¬ 
formance of the conditions of the bond. 

3. The claim shall consist of half a mile of, and in the course of the 
vein, with a quarter of a mile reserved on each side of such vein for 
building and other purposes necessary for carrying on the operations. 
The right of culling or using timber for building or fur firewood from ad- 
jacent crown lands, as well as access to neighboring water, shall also be 
conceded where the public convenience shall not suffer thereby. The 
commissioner or assistant commissioner shall be empowered to grant the 
exclusive right to necessary water, whether in the half-square mile en¬ 
closing the vein, or in the immediate neighborhood. 

4. The beds of rivers or main creeks intersected by veins included in 
such claims are not excluded from license to the public generally, except 
for a distance of fifty yards on each side of such veins. But with this 
exception no licenses shall be given to the public to dig for alluvial gold 
on such claims. The holders of the claims, however, who may desire to 
work alluvial gold, must take out licenses on payment of the usual fee of 
thirty shillings monthly for such number of persons us they may employ 
for this purpose. 

.5. A claim such as the above shall be forfeited by the failure of the 
applicant to enter within a reasonable perio l, to be notified to him by the 
commissioner in writing, into tlie required bond 5 by his not employing 
at least twenty persons, or machinery equivalent, calculated at the rate of 
one-horse power to seven men, on such claim, within six months of the 
acceptance of his application for the same, unless such time shall be spe¬ 
cially extended by the government—by his ceasing to employ that num-* 


APPENtJlX. 


105 


ber of persons, or such maehlneiy, on the works thereafter—by his em¬ 
ploying unlicensed persons to work alluvial gold on the claim—by ob¬ 
structing the officer in the proper performance of his duty, or in any other 
way violating the terms ot the bond. Such veins shall then be open to 
selection by other parties. 

6. The duration of the claim shall be three years, which, however, 
shall be extended for such further period as, upon receipt of instructions 
from government, may be determined upon, having due regard to the in¬ 
terests of the parties concirned. At the expiration of the term of their 
holding, or on the sooner determination of the tenure by the consent of 
government, the parties shall have liberty to remove all buildings, machi¬ 
nery, or other improvements erected or made by them, and a reasonable 
time shall be given for that purpose, provided always that the conditions 
of the bond shall have been duly fulfilled. 

7. No portion of land, previously occupied under claims for alluvial 
gold, will be open to selection for matrix gold, while it continues to be 
worked for the former. 


2. PRIVATE LANDS. 

Persons desirous of working auriferous quartz veins on private lands, 
shall be subject to the terms of the above regulations, with the exception 
that the royalty payable on the gross product of the gold shall be five per 
cent., and that they shall not be compelled to employ any specified num¬ 
ber of persons, nor be liable to any penalty, on their ceasing to work. 

3. traders’ licenses. 

Persons occupying portions of the gold field, by erecting temporary 
buildings, tents, &e., and carrying on business, or following any trade or 
calling, shall pay a fee thirty shillings monthly, for the use of the land so 
occupied by them ; and they are required to pay the same on demand, 
and in advance, to the officer appointed to receive payment of license 
fees. Such license may be cancelled at any time, should the land be re¬ 
quired for any public purpose, or in consequence of the conviction ot the 
licensed occupant, in any court of competent jurisdiction, of the illicit 
sale of spirits, or of any disorderly or riotous conduct endangering the 
public morals or peace; and in no case shall any claim to compensation 
for improvements be recognizedi 

4. LAND HELD UNDER PASTORAL LEASES. 

Inconvenience being felt from the occupancy under lease in terms of 
the regulations of the 29th May, 1848, of such portions of the crown 
lands as are now being worked under licenses for digging gold, it has be¬ 
come necessary to terminate the lea5es in all such cases as shall be re¬ 
ported by the commissioner or assistant commissioner to be desirable for 
securing to the licensed miners the undisturbed prosecution of their em¬ 
ployment. On the receiving of such reports, the necessary notice shall 
be given to the lessees by the proper officer of the termination of their 
leases after one month ; and the sum paid by such lessees for the land 
resumed or the proportion payable for the remainder of the term, will 
be refunded, as provided in the regulation referred to. In acting on this 
regulation, no greater interference wdth the interests of the lessees will 
be sanctioned than may be absolutely necessary to insure the object con¬ 
templated. 


1C6 


LIB 

RAR 

Y C 

)F CONOR 

HI 


III 

III ill 


ESS 


APPEN 

AUSTRALIAN TARIFF. 

(From the Republic.) 


0 029 937 138 4 


■ 


Department of State, Nov. 15, l85Si. 

The annexed extract from a dispatch received this day from J. H. 
\^’’illiams. Esq., dated Aujrust 13th, relating to a new Tariff passed by 
the Legislative Council at Sydney, New South Wales, is published for 
general information 

“ I have the pleasure of inclosing herewith a copy of the new Tarif?' 
passed by the Legislative Council. 

You will perceive that articles likely to be imported into this colony 
from the United States, with the single exception of Tobacco, are free; 
upon Tobacco the duty, both of leaf and manufactured, has been reduced 
01. per pound, and is to be still further reduced after December, 1853.” 

THE NEW TARIFF. 


The following are the duties leviable under the new Custerns* Act, 
which came into force on Thursday morning : 

«. d. 


Ale, porter, and beer of all sorts, in wood, per gallon .. . 

Ale, porter, and beer of all sorts, in bottle, per gallon.. 

Coffee, chocolate and cocoa, per pound.. 

Currants, raisins, and other dried fruits, per pound. 

Spirits, or strong waters, of the strength of proof by Sykes’s hy¬ 
drometer, and so on in proportion of any greater or less strength, 
per gallon, viz; 

Erandy. 

Gin. 


0 

0 

0 

0 


I 

(. 


Rum, whisky, and all other spirits, per gallon.4 

Perfumed spirits, of whatever strength, in bottles, for every gallon 4 
All spirits, liqueur.':, cordials, brandied fruits, or strong waters, 
respectively sweetened or mixed with any article so that the 
degree of strength thereof cannot be ascertained by Sykes’s 

hydrometer, at the rate of, per gallon.. 6 

Refined sugar, per cwt. 3 

Unrefined sugar, per cwt. 2 

Molasses, per ewt. 1 

Tea, per pound. 0 

Manufactured tobacco, per pound. Is. 6d. until the 31st December. 


Unmanufactured tobacco, per pound. Is. until the Gist December, 

1853, and thereafter... C 

Cigars and Snuff, per pound. 2 

Wine, not containing more than 25 per cent.of alcohol of asf)€cifie 
gravity of 325, at the temperature of 60 degrees of Fahreinheit’s 
thermometer, in wood or in bottle, per gallon. 1 


Drawback upon the exportation of refined sugar made in the 

Colony, per ewt.. 3 

Drawback, on refined sugar, known as bastard sugar, per cwt. .. 2 


1 


h 

0 ^ 


4 * 


V 

0 

0 


0 

4 

6 

8 

U 

0 


O 



0 


4 




6 





























